FoxFang of the future
by Looneyman
Summary: It has been over 20 years since Jessica and Zach hung up the costumes. Now it's time to pass on the flame to somebody else. Finally updated.
1. The future

Disclaimer: Though most of the characters in this story are my own Fan-made characters, there are Looney Tunes and Tiny Toon Adventure characters in the story. Looney Tunes and Tiny Toon Adventures are Copyright to Warner Brothers and this story is being written with no profit motive.

A/N: You'll need to familiarise yourselves with the FoxFang continuity in the LT section (If you haven't already) to understand the majority of what's going on here.

**The future**

It had been roughly 20 years since Jessica, Zach and their classmates had graduated from the looniversity. At that time, the city was plunged into chaos by a sudden increase in criminal activity. However, all of the criminal gangs were brought down by an old legend returning from the grave; the legend of FoxFang, accompanied by Cub. After the last gang was brought down, the beings disappeared into urban legend again. Many people now believed that they were just mirages, others said that they were phantoms. Some people even went as far to say that the heroes came from another dimension. Whatever people believed, nobody but a few select people knew who the two beings were. A lot had changed over those 20 years. The city had developed into something spectacular, with technology advancing to an incredible level. Now the vehicles hovered over the ground and were powered by water. In fact, everything was powered by renewable sources that produced no harmful waste products. This allowed the citizens to live in incredible luxury, no matter what their wealth, and without any harm to the environment. The one place that had changed very little was the looniversity. It had more efficient technology inside to deal with the advancement in technology, but the interior hadn't changed very much. Most of the Tiny Toons were the new teachers of the looniversity. Jessica, daughter of Bugs Bunny had taken over the role of principal of the school. Her long time lover, and now her husband Zach, also worked at the Looniversity as a librarian. The two had been married for about 10 years. When they married, Zach chose to take Jessica's surname. He made this decision for two reasons, firstly because he didn't want to have any relationship with his family past anymore and secondly because he didn't want Jessica to have the surname of another famous Jessica. They had a 6-year-old son who attended the looniversity. His name was Daniel, taking his name from his father's second name. He looked a lot like his grandfather Bugs Bunny, the difference was that his chest was black rather than white. He was fairly quiet, and didn't like getting involved in romance. Some girls had tried to hit on him but he had turned all of them down. He had few friends, but those he did have, he cared for greatly. He had an incredible amount of strength and agility, meaning he came top in gym (taught by Furball) constantly. He had inherited his strength and agility from both his parents, but he did not know about their past. Most of the Looney Tunes that were still alive were now elderly, needing help from their children or living in elderly centres, though some were able to live by themselves with limited assistance. Some of them had died. Granny died of old age about 15 years ago. Taz died 5 years ago due to cancer. Both Roadrunner and Wile E coyote were killed in an accident 10 years ago. Tweety and Aaooga had also died. They had died 5 years ago due to a blood disease. Porky and Petunia had died of old age 10 years ago. All of Bugs' enemies other than Daffy and Marvin the Martian had also died. Marvin the Martian had gone back to Mars to live there on a permanent basis. All of the Looney Tunes kids had grown up, but only Jessica and Zach worked at the Looniversity. The other employees were the Tiny Toons. To name a few, Buster taught toon physics, Fowlmouth taught Mathematics; Babs taught the spin change class and Plucky taught cartoon violence. Most of the Tiny Toons had married and had at least one child. Most of these children attended the looniversity. Not all of the Tiny Toons were teachers though. Sweetie became a chef at a restaurant; Fifi now ran the Diamondo De Francais on her own without Pepe le Pew's help, since he was now living in a retirement home in France and Elmyra, ironically, ran a Pet care center. She had mellowed down considerably and was much more gentle than she was, not to mention much more knowledgeable about an animal's needs. Shirley worked a psychic hotline from home. Montana Max had disappeared some time ago. Nobody knew where he was now, but nobody tried to find him anyway. Throughout the whole time, Plucky and Shirley still kept Jessica and Zach's secret. Prior to Jessica and Zach's wedding, Bugs had acquired the funds to have a house built just for them over the sight of where the Foxcave was. There was a hidden entrance to the cave from the house, hidden behind a painting of the looniversity, and the old entrances to the cave had long since been sealed. Egghead Jr, long time helper of the FoxFang group, had died. He died due to a spread of the disease that had disabled his ability to talk. His whole body was paralyzed by the time he died. King had also died. He died soon after Jessica and Zach hung up the FoxFang and Cub outfits. By that point, he was suffering from arthritis and was of much less use in battles. King's ashes were stored in a jar in the Foxcave, a place which Jessica and Zach still periodically visited. Bugs and Lola still lived in the old house. They were very old now but were still able to manage. Even so Jessica still went around to help out when she could and so did her brother. Lola's second child was a boy that had been named Bruce. He had a disability from birth that meant he got worn out much more easily, since his muscles were weaker. As a result, he wasn't deemed suitable to take over FoxFang, but he was trusted enough to be told the secret. He still kept this secret from everybody. Daffy and Melissa never discovered Zach's secret and neither did Rose. In a twist of fate, Rose became the new mayor of the city. She did a surprisingly good job as mayor, making some great decisions and putting Daffy to utter shame. Daffy now lived in an old folks home, since they needed specialist attention. Melissa had died of old age about 3 years ago.

* * *

It was just a typical day at the looniversity, a Wednesday in the first week after the spring half term. It was currently the lunch break and Daniel was in the library indulging in some private reading. Ironically, he was currently reading 'old cartoon legends', the same book his mother had read several years ago. The book had been updated and reprinted, but the library had still kept the old copy. It was the older copy that Daniel was reading, since the more recent copy was on loan to somebody else. He wasn't reading about FoxFang though, he was just flicking through to read about other legends. He knew about the FoxFang since his parents had told him. They haven't told him that they were the foxes because they didn't think he was ready to be told. That didn't stop them dropping the occasional hint, but Daniel didn't seem to pick up on them. He was sitting on his own, as usual, trying to keep away from people. It wasn't too long though before he was interrupted in his reading. Somebody else had sat down next to him. He looked up and saw Brian Badger, one of his few friends. He had the coloring of a classic badger and had dark brown eyes. Daniel smiled in greeting and looked back down at the book.

"Daniel, I need some advice." Brian suddenly said. Daniel looked up at Brian. Truth be told, he wasn't that surprised. Brian suffered from a form of depression that made him almost permanently sad about something and needed some advice almost every day.

"Is something wrong Brian?" Daniel asked.

"I'm having some trouble with my parents. I think they're starting to hate me." Daniel looked a little surprised about what Brian had just said. This was the first time Brian had mentioned trouble with his parents. He hardly mentioned his parents at all, so Daniel didn't know about them.

"Why do you think that?"

"For one thing, I seem to be getting less and less food from them for no apparent reason. Secondly, they seem to be spending less and less time with me." He began to release a tear. "It's really getting me down." Daniel placed a hand on Brian's shoulder. Daniel tried to help Brian in anyway he could whenever he was upset about something. It took Daniel a moment to decide on what he should do about this situation.

"Brian, the only thing I can suggest is that you talk to your parents about the matter if you can. There has to be a reason that they're not paying so much attention to you. In the meantime…" Daniel paused to take out a small amount of money from his pocket and slip it into Brian's hand. "Use that to buy a little extra food on your way home. If your parents ask, tell them that you found the money on the playground." Brian looked into the money that was in his hand. He didn't know what to do now. He didn't want to accept any money but he was quite hungry. In the end though, he pocketed the money and gave Daniel a hug.

"Thank you Daniel. I will never forget your kindness." Daniel struggled a little and squirmed out of Brian's grip.

"Brian, don't hug me. It's quite embarrassing for me." Daniel turned back to his book to continue reading. Brian didn't say anything and left the library. Daniel just kept on quietly reading. It was about 30 minutes until his next lesson so he had time to read a bit more. It wasn't very long until somebody else sat down next to him. He looked up and saw a light pink rabbit sitting next to him. She had a blue bow around her ears. She had light blue eyes and a tiny overbite, barely noticeable in fact. Daniel just shrugged.

"Oh, hello Laura." Daniel greeted. Laura was Buster and Babs' daughter, one of their three children that attended the looniversity, and the only female company Daniel tolerated. He felt nothing above friendship for her but had a dread feeling that she would try to hit on him one day, like so many other girls did. Laura and Daniel had known each other since they were very young; they both went to the same nursery school. Like Daniel, Laura only felt friendship towards Daniel, though she did sometimes question her feelings towards him. For the moment, she was taking an interest in the book he was reading.

"What's the book that you're reading?" Laura asked. Daniel lifted the book and showed Laura the front cover. Laura read the cover with interest. "Didn't think you were the type to read this sort of book." Daniel looked over at Laura.

"My mother recommended that I read this book. I really don't know why though." Laura looked over at the page that Daniel was reading. "It's an interesting book though. I might rent it out."

"Your dad's the librarian isn't he?" Daniel did a double take at that remark. He seemed surprised that she had asked that, since his parents were common knowledge.

"You only just noticed?" Laura just laughed quietly. She could be as silly as her mother at times, but has a lot more control over her wild nature than Babs did.

"I knew all along, I just like watching you do a double take." Daniel did another double take. Laura would've burst out laughing if they weren't in the library. She had to cover her mouth to stop her laughing. Daniel just sighed.

"I'm going to go and rent this book out and then walk around the looniversity." Daniel stood up and went to the reception area. Zach was at the reception looking at a computer screen, just checking if any out of date books were due. He noticed Daniel approaching and turned to face him.

"Hello there Daniel. How can I help you today?" Zach asked.

"Dad, you don't have to act so official." Zach let out a smirk. He had since lost the unusual coloring he had when he was young and was now a very handsome brown rabbit. A lot of ladies were very jealous of Jessica for having such a handsome husband.

"I just like being official." Zach then noticed the book in Daniel's hand. "Want to take a book out eh?"

"If that's allowable." Daniel handed Zach his student ID. Zach scanned the ID card and then the book. It was all cleared out and Zach gave the book back to Daniel.

"Back in two weeks Daniel."

* * *

After the Looniversity had closed for the day and everyone had returned home, Daniel was in his bedroom in his family house. His room was colored mostly black but had a red band around the center. Daniel seemed to have a fondness for the color black, though his room wasn't completely black. His bed covers were red and the carpet was also red. The room had a bedside table, a wardrobe, a bookcase and a chest of draws. There was also a table next to the wall with a chair next to it, which Daniel used to do his homework. Right now, he was sitting on his bed while reading the book he had taken out of the library. He didn't have any work to do so he could relax for the evening. He was too wrapped up in his reading that he didn't notice his mother enter the room. Jessica was now a very beautiful lady, often getting looks from other men. She still had the coloration that she had when she was a child though. Jessica sat down on Daniel's bed, right next to Daniel, giving him quite a surprise. He quickly looked next to him and gave a sigh.

"Mum, I wish you wouldn't do that." Daniel said, a tone of annoyance. Jessica just laughed.

"Can't I surprise my son every once in a while?" Jessica asked playfully. Daniel said nothing in response, choosing to go back to his reading. Jessica looked over at the book, reading the title with interest. "I see you took my recommendation. What do you think?" Daniel looked up at his mother.

"It's interesting, even though the whole book is well out of date. Some of the stories are quite hard to believe though. I'd read the more up to date if it was available, but somebody else has it at the moment." Daniel replied.

"You can ask your dad to reserve it you know." Daniel simply nodded.

"I'll do that next time." Jessica leaned over to her son.

"Shall I tell you an interesting story?" Daniel looked up again.

"How long will it take?"

"Just a second. Anyway, when I was your age, and I was at the looniversity, and it was the end of the summer term, I was reading the same book you are now." Daniel did a double take.

"You've read this book?"

"Not from cover to cover. Back then; I was just flicking through it to alleviate my boredom. That said though, one chapter in there did catch my attention." Daniel grew very interested in what Jessica was saying.

"What part were you reading?" Jessica took hold of the book and began flicking through the pages. She eventually found the part she was reading all those years ago, the FoxFang legend, and handed the book back to Daniel.

"That section. Anyway, dinner will be ready in about 10 minutes." With that, Jessica left Daniel alone to read while she finished making dinner. She was giving her son a little clue about her past. Daniel just read the section Jessica had pointed out with interest, not picking up on his mother's hint.

_A Long time ago, the city of Looniville was plagued by an onslaught of evil. Criminal gangs were all over the city claiming the city as their own. The streets were never safe and the police could not cope. The city was plunged into chaos and hope for a peaceful town seemed all but nothing, until on day a figure appeared in the city. Standing 2ft tall he was only the size of a young rabbit, but looked more like a fox than a rabbit. He was dressed in a black outfit that covered the body completely, preventing identification. The only part visible were his eyes. Even the tail was covered in the black robe. One by one, using incredible acrobatic skills, fighting techniques and unknown gadgets, he defeated each band of gangsters and brought light to the city. Because of a fang design on the robe, he was known as FoxFang, the knight toon. When light had been completely returned to the city, he left, promising to return if darkness ever came back. The figure's identity was never discovered. 300 years have passed since then, and the darkness has never returned, neither the knight toon, FoxFang._


	2. Top school challenge

**Top school challenge**

The following day at the looniversity went normally, up until after lunch. Daniel was currently in the spin changes class. Teacher Babs bunny was already there, sitting at the desk preparing what was in store for the lesson. It wasn't quite time to start so the students had a little time to chat amongst themselves. Daniel was sitting near the back, as far away from the girls as possible. He was sitting next to Arnold Duck, the son of Plucky and Shirley. He was a light blue color with green eyes. He was a friendly person with a good sense of humour but was one of the most feared students in the looniversity. He had the greed his father did when he was at the Looniversity. This would be tolerable normally, but Arnold had inherited some of his mother's power. He could summon balls of lightning, could use telepathy and also had telekinesis. Fortunately, Arnold didn't use his power to get his own way, preferring to rely on toon tricks to satisfy his greed, and never used his telepathy without good reason. Daniel and Arnold were good friends, both in the looniversity and out of it. Arnold also got on with Laura, though their relationship was a little more edgy. A few moments later, Gogo dodo's voice was heard throughout the looniversity.

"Cuckoo, Cuckoo, if you're late for class you're Cuckoo!" Gogo announced. That was the cue for everyone for quieten down and put anything they were reading away. Babs had disappeared from her desk, only to reappear from behind it dressed in a red dress wearing a pink wig that hid her ears but gave her what looked like hedgehog quills down her back. She also had a red and yellow hammer in her hand.

"Welcome class. I'm Babsy rose from the planet mobius." Babs greeted, causing everybody in the room to laugh and applaud. Babs took the cue to spin change back into her normal attire, a dress and shirt. "Thanks kids. The purpose of that was to show the theme for this half of the term; video game characters." One of the students, a rodent then stuck his hand up in the air.

"Who were you impersonating just then?" The rodent asked.

"That was Amy rose from the Sonic series." Brian said to the rodent.

"Thank you for the clarifying that Brian. But the point is, with good spin changing, you can not only change your appearance, but burrow the abilities of whoever you impersonate." Babs continued. To prove her point, she began spinning again. Once she stopped, she was clad in orange like armor, wearing a helmet that covered her face. On her right arm was a cannon instead of a hand.

"Who are you now?" Arnold asked.

"She's impersonating Samus Aran from the Metroid series." Brian pointed out.

"My name is Babs Aran." Babs stated through the visor, pointing the cannon on her arm at the window. She then fired a missile from the cannon out of the window and then fired a bluish white beam at the missile. The beam hit the missile and it froze in mid air. The frozen missile fell onto the grass outside without exploding. Babs took the resulting round of applause before spin changing back to normal. "Ok everyone, I shall select people at random and then see what you can come up with." Babs looked around the classroom briefly to chose the first person to try an impersonation. She was tempted to choose her own daughter but that would be favouritism, so she chose somebody else. "Arnold, why don't you go first?" Arnold nodded and stood up from his chair before walking in front of the class. Once at he front of the class, he began to spin. By the time he stopped, he was a red headed male wearing what looked like a black leather cloak mixed with armor.

"My name is Arnoldorf, king of evil." Arnold stated in a threatening voice. He showed the back of his hand and a golden triangle appeared. Some were shaking, though others thought it was cool. Daniel took a cue and joined in. He stood up and did a spin change himself. When he finished, he was wearing a green tunic with a sword and shield strapped on his back and two gauntlets on each hand. A similar golden triangle was on the back of Daniel's hand.

"My name is Dink, hero of time." Daniel introduced before drawing his sword and shield. Everybody ducked underneath their desks, sensing a fight coming on, but Brian also took out his tape recorder and played some battle music. Arnoldorf created a sphere of magic from his hand and threw it at Dink. Dink swiped his sword and sent the sphere of energy back at Arnoldorf. Arnoldorf retaliated by whacking it back. This game of tennis continued until Arnoldorf missed his hit and got hit by his own spell. Laura couldn't help herself and joined in the whole scene. When he finished spin changing, she was dressed in a mixture of pink and purple with golden hair. She also had a golden triangle on the back of her hand.

"Lelda, princess of the looniversity." Laura greeted before drawing a bow and firing a golden arrow at Arnoldorf. The arrow hit Arnoldorf directly. The result was a flash of yellow light that left him completely unable to move. Dink took his opportunity to leap in and attack Arnoldorf with his sword. The fight would've continued if Babs hadn't stopped the whole scene.

"Everyone, that was fantastic. I never thought I'd see such good Zelda impersonations. I'd give you all an A+ if it was the end of year exams." Babs said while applauding. Everyone else in the classroom stood up, cheered and whooped. Arnold, Daniel and Laura took centre stage, took a bow and spun changed back to normal.

"We could make that into a play. We could be rich!" Arnold said, with dollar signs appearing in his eyes. Laura simply rolled her eyes.

"Why'd I figure you'd say something like that?" Laura thought to herself. Before anything else could happen, the Looniversity's intercom sounded.

"Greetings everybody. It's principle Jessica Bunny here. After the current lessons have finished and the next bell sounds, I would like to see everybody in the main hall. Do not worry; nobody is in any trouble. And that's all folks." Jessica's voice said over the intercom. Everybody in the class looked at each other.

"What does your mother want this time?" Arnold asked Daniel, who simply shrugged in response.

"I've no idea. She didn't mention this before." Daniel replied.

* * *

After the class finished, everybody went off to the main hall. Babs had finished the class early so they would get to the hall in time. There were a couple of minutes before Jessica was going to arrive, so everybody in the hall was having a chat with their friends. Daniel was sitting next to Trinity, the daughter of Sweetie. Trinity was a white canary with green eyes. She attracted a lot of attention, even from toons much larger than her. The only reason he was doing this was to put a distance between her and Hairball, son of Furball. Hairball was a grey cat, but he had white paws and a blue face. Hairball was trying to get his paws on Trinity, while Daniel blocked every attempt. Truth be told, he was very uncomfortable about sitting in between the two, so was thankful Arnold was sitting behind him. Arnold was helping Daniel keep Hairball under control. Laura was sitting behind Arnold, not having anything to do with anything that was happening with Hairball, Trinity, Daniel and Arnold. Hairball was getting frustrated at Daniel blocking his access to Trinity. He tried to give Daniel a vicious swipe, only for the hand to be forcefully stopped by something in the way. Daniel had ducked the swipe out of instinct. When Daniel looked behind him, he saw why Hairball's hand had stopped. Arnold had pointed a hand/wing at Hairball and was using Telekinesis to keep him under control. Hairball now had no choice but to calm down. Arnold didn't release him from his telepathic grip until Jessica entered the main hall, accompanied by all of the other staff of the looniversity. Jessica went over to the stand at the front of the hall. She momentarily had a recollection of a past incident at the looniversity, but put it to the back of her mind. She very quickly tapped the microphone that was attached to the stand.

"Ok, testing 1 2 3." Jessica spoke. She always did this before she was about to speak to the students. It had almost become second nature to her. "Ok everyone. Thank you all for coming on short notice. The reason I called this is because I have a bit of an announcement to make. I was told about one and a half hours ago that the looniversity has been nominated as one of the finalists in the yearly 'toon education centre of the year' award." There was a huge cheer at that announcement from the students. Jessica calmly waited for the cheer to die down before continuing. "We have been asked that two of our students produce an essay on the looniversity, its history, its policies, its classes, everything about the looniversity. In order to do that, we have to be sure that the two best students are chosen for this." Jessica clicked her fingers. Buster then came on stage with a large letterbox while Babs went around everyone in the hall, handing him or her a voting sheet. "I would like you to vote on the two students that you think should take part in the essay. Before you vote I ask that you listen to what I am about to say." The hall went quiet and everybody waited for Jessica's instructions. "The essay must be a minimum of 10,000 words but no more than 20,000. The essay must include details such as the history, the lessons that are provided, the catering facilities, enrichment activities, the policies, the success rate, the sporting activities, any charity events that we hold and an overall rating of the looniversity. The essay also has to be very well written, with little or no spelling or grammatical errors. I am asking that everybody cast his or her vote by lunchtime tomorrow. Use the letterbox that is up here to vote. It will be placed in the cafeteria once I have finished talking. The students that have been chosen will be informed on Friday and the essay needs to be ready by the end of next week. For that reason, the looniversity will be open longer than usual for the two elected students to do their work. So you all have a chance to discuss amongst your friends and such who you would like to nominate for the essay, there will be no more lessons for today." There was a small cheer after Jessica's speech, but it didn't last long. Everyone began to stand up to leave. At the same time, they began to talk amongst each other about who they wanted to represent the looniversity. It wasn't going to be an easy decision, since so much was at stake. Daniel, rather than leaving, went over to his mother.

"You're not going to insist that I go are you?" Daniel asked. Jessica just laughed and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"No Daniel, I'll go with whoever the voters decide on. Now I have some work to do in my office before we go. Until then, go out with your friends and discuss whom you want to send." Daniel nodded in response to his mother. He obeyed his mother and went off to find his friends. Jessica stood down from the stand and began to walk away to her office, only to have her arm grabbed gently. Realising who it was, she pirouetted into Zach's arms in a swift movement.

"Zachy, you don't have to tease me like that." Jessica teased, using her pet name for him. Zach just smiled.

"I'm allowed to do this sort of thing though aren't I Jessibell?" Zach asked back, using his pet name for her. Jessica smiled and let go of her husband.

"I need to do some paperwork in my office, and I'm sure that you have a bit of work to do in the library." Jessica couldn't help but act like the boss, even towards Zach. Though when she was being boss to Zach, she used a more gentle tone towards him. "Don't worry, we'll play later." Jessica continued with a cheeky smile. Zach returned the cheeky smile and stroked the top of Jessica's head. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"I'll see you later then." With that, Zach went out of the main hall and went towards the library while Jessica went towards her office.


	3. The chosen researchers

**The chosen researchers**

That Friday, at the looniversity, the final lesson for Daniel before the lunch break was Gymnastics. They were currently cooling down with a game of dodge ball. The gym teacher was Becky pie, daughter of the late Tweety and Aaooga. Though her parents had died, she kept them alive in her heart ever since. Despite her size, she was a great teacher, showing all of the students how to do each and every task. She would fly out of reach of the feline students as a precaution, though nobody tried anything. Even if they did, she would stop them with a shriek. Her mother's blood allowed her to shriek at a deafening volume. She used this technique to get away from predators and maintain order with her students. Right now, she was flying overhead while watching the dodge ball game in progress. The match up was the classic Boys vs. Girls scenario. Daniel and Laura were so far the top two players on each side. Daniel was able to see balls coming and evade as gracefully as a butterfly, and had the accuracy to throw some devastating shots. Laura was better at catching balls rather than dodging them, proving to be quite formidable, even if she couldn't throw as powerful shots as Daniel. The rest of each side were either average or mediocre. It eventually got down to an unusual situation. The only players left were Daniel and Laura. Laura had possession of the ball at the moment and was trying to work out where best to aim. She eventually decided on aiming high and to Daniel's left. Daniel began to run towards where she had thrown the ball but, realising his mistake, hit the floor to avoid the ball. He then stood up and picked the ball up. He was now on offence. Laura adopted a defensive position and prepared to dodge whichever way Daniel threw the ball. Daniel had already decided where to throw the ball but just as he was making the move to throw, Becky blew her whistle to end the game.

"That will do everyone. I'm calling this a draw. Guys, that was very good. Daniel, your evasion skills are very impressive, but you also need to work a little on trying to catch the ball rather then evading the ball, especially if the ball is coming at a slow speed. You can gain possession of the ball and get someone out by catching rather than dodging. And Laura, your situation is the reverse. You try to catch most balls, even if the ball is moving quickly. While that can be an effective tactic, if you miss your catch, you can be knocked out of the game. Try to balance dodging and catching. That advice applies to both of you. Now lunch break will begin soon, so get showered and head off to lunch." Becky lectured to the students. Everybody rushed to his or her appropriate changing rooms in a flash, leaving a trail of dust. Becky simply sighed to herself at the sight. "You'd think that everybody here were roadrunners with speed like that." She thought to herself. In the male changing rooms, Daniel had just come away from his shower and was now changing out of his sports gear. He was, as per usual, by himself. Truth be told, gym was his favourite lessons. He was one of the best students at gym, showing incredible speed and strength. He hoped to be able to use his obvious talents in athletic competitions. For this reason, he was looking forward to the upcoming tournament against the perfectos. Once he was changed, he went to leave, only to feel a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and saw Brian, looking a little worn out and an obvious tear in his eye.

"Brian, are you ok?" Daniel asked. Brian shook his head. He then sat down on the nearby bench and let a tear fall.

"The situation with my parents seems to be getting worse. I heard them having a huge argument last night." Brian said before putting his head in his hands. "I think it was my fault." Brian began to sob, not caring about the looks in his direction. Daniel put a hand on Brian's shoulder and sat next to him.

"I highly doubt the argument was your fault. My parents sometimes have small arguments, but it always gets resolved within a few minutes. It was probably something so minor you don't need to worry about it." Daniel explained. Brian continued to sob.

"That's different. Your parents only had a small argument. My parents had a big argument. I ran before I could tell what it was about." Daniel had a little think about what Brian had just described. He didn't have a good example in his mind to compare it to, so he couldn't think of anything to suggest.

"Brian, I don't know what to suggest. Adult relationships are something I don't understand. I don't think I really want too to be honest. The best I can say is that you talk to your parents and see if they'll say anything about it." Brian simply nodded in response, but didn't say anything. It was a moment after that when Gogo dodo announced lunch.

"Cuckoo, Cuckoo, if you lose you place in the dinner queue you're Cuckoo!" Gogo announced. Shortly after that, there was another announcement through the looniversity intercom.

"Greetings everybody. It's principle Jessica Bunny here. After lunch, I'd like everybody in the main hall. The votes have been counted and we will be announcing who will be our researchers. And that's all folks." Jessica's voice sounded over the intercom. Everybody in the changing rooms looked at each other nervously.

"Of course I'm bound to be one of the researchers. Everybody voted for me right?" Arnold asked. There was an awkward silence, broken only by the sounds of crickets chirping. Everybody in the room rolled their eyes when they saw the source of the noise. Brian had pulled out his tape recorder and had played the noise. He gave a nervous chuckle, turned off the tape recorder and put it away when he realised everybody was looking at him.

"Come on, let's grab some lunch." Daniel said.

* * *

After lunch, everybody was gathered in the main hall. Daniel had chosen to sit in between Arnold and Brian. Hairball and Trinity were being kept far apart to prevent Hairball from attacking Trinity. The first lesson after lunch had been called off because of the announcement. Everybody was quietly anxious about who the researchers were going to be. Daniel himself had voted for two students who he considered the smartest in the looniversity. He didn't know whom everyone else had voted for though, since nobody had said. After about 5 minutes of waiting, Buster Bunny entered the hall, wheeling in the large letterbox that everybody had been voting in. All of the other teachers entered the hall shortly after, with Jessica entering last. She was holding a white envelope, which contained the results of the voting. She, Zach and some other staff members had spent nearly the whole of the previous night counting up the votes in time for the announcement. At last it was time. Jessica went up to the stand and tapped the microphone.

"Ok, testing 1 2 3. Everybody, I must thank you all for your cooperation in voting before the deadline. Me and a few other members of staff spent nearly 2 hours counting up all of the votes. I have the results in this envelope. Remember, the names I read out will have a huge responsibility, so do us proud. Drum roll please." Jessica spoke, quickly glancing at Buster as she finished her sentence. On cue, Buster pulled out a huge set of drums from his body pocket. All of the students were looking around anxiously, but nobody was speaking. Buster pulled out a pair of drumsticks and began a drum roll while Jessica carefully opened the envelope. Once it had been opened, the drum roll quickened in pace. "And the winners are…" With that speech, the drum roll quickened even more. Jessica took out the results from the envelope and read them to herself. "Daniel Bunny…" Jessica was, in truth, a little surprised that her own son had been voted for such a huge task. Brian and Arnold both looked at Daniel. He couldn't believe it himself. He couldn't even speak himself. Arnold looked a little disappointed but soon shrugged it off.

"The next name will be mine anyway." Arnold thought to himself.

"Garry Greyhound." Jessica announced. After this announcement, Buster hit the symbols on the drums. Garry greyhound was a student who Daniel had a lot of respect for, despite his personality. Garry was a little rude and snobbery, but very intelligent and an excellent researcher. He was, however, going through a bout of depression. He constantly refused to elaborate what was causing it, even to the teachers, but everybody knew that something was wrong. Over the days, he had been slowly getting worse and worse, but he still remained intelligent and sharp. While most of the students were generally happy and applauding, one was not.

"WHAT! That greyhound's name over mine! That's preposterous. It's ridiculous. It's not fair. It's… it's… it's a word that hasn't yet been thought up yet." Arnold started ranting. Everybody was now looking at him daggers, but he didn't seem to care. "I demand a recount. I demand recompense. I put in a lot of work for this looniversity and get no apples in return!" On that cue, Laura, who was sitting fairly close to the group, pulled out a remote control and pressed a big red button. That moment, a ton of apples fell from the ceiling and landed on Arnold.

"How do you like them apples?" Laura asked in a joking tone. Everybody started laughing. Arnold clambered out from underneath the mountain of apples that was, literally, piled on top of him.

"What? No toffee?" That was another cue for Laura. She pressed the button again and a huge coating of toffee falling from above then covered Arnold. Everyone in the room, even some of the teachers, burst into hysterical laughter. Arnold poked his head out from under the mess. He was managing to prevent his powers from going wild and harming anyone, but was not happy about what had just happened. "I had to ask." Arnold said in a sarcastic tone. He then used his telekinesis to get the apples and toffee sauce off of him and then had trouble deciding on what to do with it. Before he could decide, a blue tornado came from the floor and went straight into the food. It swirled around for a bit and then stopped. When it had stopped, in its place was a blue Tasmanian devil, with an extremely satisfied look in his face.

"Mmm, spinney stuffed." The Tasmanian devil said. Spinney was the son of Dizzy devil. He acted like his father did when he was at the looniversity in every way. Satisfied that the mess had been cleared, Arnold then used his power on himself to clean himself, not willing to have to go through the showers again. He glared around at everybody. The room went quiet, all expecting him to explode in a psychic fury. He was able to stop himself though.

"I'll let you off with a caution." Arnold said to nobody in particular before sitting back down. Everybody gave a huge sigh of relief. Jessica made a mental note to talk to Arnold later and continued.

"I thank everybody for voting. I must now speak to the two chosen researchers to discuss the research. Everybody else, you may go. Lessons will continue at the allocated time, but you may have the rest of this period to study by yourselves." Jessica finished. Everybody stood up and most began to leave. Daniel and Garry though went to the front to talk to Jessica. Daniel was the first to reach her, so he took the opportunity to have a quick son to mother chat.

"Guess I'm researching anyway." Daniel muttered.

"It shows that people believe you do good work, and I agree with you." Jessica complimented. Daniel simply smiled.

"Mum, I am a little nervous about having to do this." Jessica put a hand on Daniel's shoulder to compliment him.

"You'll be fine. I'll be in my office should you need me and you'll have access to all the facilities to do your research. I know you don't get on with Garry but if you just focus on the project rather than the person, you'll find it a lot easier." IT was just a moment later when Garry approached Daniel and Jessica. Garry approached Daniel and the two shook hands.

"The school's counting on us, let's do our best." Garry said.

"I hope you'll be up for this Garry." Daniel replied with a little concern.


	4. Research night

**Research night**

That Sunday, Daniel was sitting up in his room thinking about the task that had fallen to him. He never expected to be lumped with such a huge responsibility. He was slightly looking forward to it though, since it was something different to do. He already had a notepad out and was writing down a list of things that would be worth researching. Considering what was required, he would need access to the staff only books. These books would most likely have the information about the looniversity's history that he would need for him and Garry to complete the task. He should be able to have access to that information, but he was intending to talk to his mother about it later. He was hoping that Garry's recent bout of depression wouldn't make things difficult. He did see the logic in having Garry as one of the researchers though, even though he personally hadn't voted for him. This was due to a concern of whether he was up to the challenge. He had no idea of who would have voted for him, but he had a few ideas. His mind began to stray from the task at hand and he found himself reaching over to grab a book. He ended up grabbing what felt like a hand. Nervously, he looked up to see what he had grabbed. When he saw gave him the fright of his life. He let go of the hand, jumped off the bed and backed to the wall.

"Laura! Wh-wh-what are you doing here?" Daniel stuttered. Laura laughed and sat on the bed.

"Did you forget? Your parents invited mine over for dinner." Laura replied. Daniel just sighed. He had been so engrossed he hadn't heard the door open. Laura looked at what Daniel had been doing when she had arrived. "Researching already are you?"

"Kind of. I was making a list of what I would need to research." Laura took the notes and put them on the table next to the bed.

"You do work too much you know. Lighten up and save the research for tomorrow." Laura decided to make herself comfortable just to see what Daniel would do. She stretched out on the bed and put her head on the pillow. Daniel didn't seem to reach. Something in his mind prevented him from shouting at her. He instead chose to move away from her and sit on the floor, but one thing was bothering him.

"How long have you been in my room anyway?" Daniel asked without turning his round. Laura just laughed.

"About 2 minutes. We arrived 5 minutes ago." Laura then jumped off the bed and approached Arnold. She sat down right next to him, which caused him to shuffle away. Laura tried to make a conversation. "So, who'd you vote for in the vote?"

"Nobody special. I chose who I thought would be best. I certainly didn't vote for myself." Laura tried to lean close but Daniel backed away again.

"I might as well tell you. I voted for you." Daniel's eyes lit up and he looked at Laura.

"You voted for me? Why?"

"Because I think you're a great researcher. You were already researching when I arrived weren't you?" Daniel just smiled and looked over his shoulder at what he was starting on.

"I suppose, but I already told you exactly what I was doing." Laura nodded and took a good look around Daniel's room. She had never realised how Daniel's room had been colored. It gave her a bit of a creepy feeling, but at the same time it made Daniel look much more dangerous than he really was. "How's Arnold?" Daniel asked, snapping Laura out of her thoughts.

"Still disappointed. Last time I saw him yesterday, he was firing lightning bolts at rocks in the forest." Both Laura and Daniel laughed. It was like Arnold to attack defenceless and unliving objects when he was angry. He often chose to pound rocks but wasn't above attack buildings listed for demolition as well. This did earn him a beating from the council though, since he wasn't allowed to be involved in demolition, even though his lightning bolts didn't do any damage to the buildings. Daniel suddenly stood up from the floor.

"I need to talk with my mother about having access to certain documents." Laura nodded and stood up as well.

"You know, I don't think you need to ask. I think that your mother was going to give you and Garry access to those documents anyway.

"On the subject of Garry, did you vote for him as well as me?" Laura nodded.

"I thought he would make a good research partner for you." Daniel gave a sigh and sat back down on his bed.

"I just hope he'll be up for it. You know he's been going through a bout of severe depression lately. I think he's in a worse state than Brian." Laura put a hand on Daniel's shoulder.

"He'll be fine. You know Garry; he can lock out idle thoughts while he's working." Daniel sighed again. He had forgotten about that talent of his. Now his mind was at rest a bit better and he felt more hopeful about being able to put together a good essay for the contest. He stood back up again, only for Laura to laugh. "You're up and down so much people would think you're a yo-yo." Daniel smiled and took the cue. He did a spin change and finished up looking like a Yo-yo.

"Ok, I am a Yo-yo." Daniel said through a muffled voice, since his costume covered his mouth. Laura laughed and jumped on the bed. She then grabbed the string that was tied around Daniel and began using him as a Yo-yo. He was, however, difficult to use and she could only do a couple of movements before she let go and fell backwards onto Daniel's bed.

"You need to cut the carrots boy." Daniel did a spin-change after Laura's remark. He was now wearing what he was before the stunt.

"Just don't ask me to do that again." Daniel remarked. Both then started laughing.

* * *

That Monday evening, Garry and Daniel were in the Looniversity's library. Daniel had with him some documents that were normally staff only, but were on loan to him and Garry for research purposes. The documents showed the success rate of the looniversity, the history of the looniversity and current plans for development, just to name a selection. Garry had some other research materials he had found in the library, all about the looniversity. He also had the flyers and books that were available to the public and given to the new students. Daniel was at a computer doing some internet research. They needed to find everything they could to create a top grade essay. Daniel's mother Jessica wasn't in the looniversity, but she was only a phone call away should the need arise. Daniel had the home page of the Looniversity's internet home page on his computer screen, with a word processor ready. The computers had really advanced. There were no more mousse but touch screens were used to make selections. The internet was provided entirely by broadband; dial up had long since been phased out. Wires had also been phased out; all internet connections were wireless. The result was fast, reliable internet connection that could be accessed at anytime. Garry was working on notepad and pen, simply noting down a few brief notes that could be typed up in full on the computer. Daniel was also taking notes on paper, so he didn't have to constantly switch between word processor and internet. Daniel cast a glance over at Garry. He was still worried as to whether Garry would be able to cope, but it seemed fine. Daniel seemed to sense that there was something wrong though, but decided against asking. He was instead searching through the looniversity's web site and noting down the important information. He was taking up several sheets of paper for notes, but was going to word process all the information later. Suddenly, and without warning, Garry stood up from his seat and went over to Daniel.

"Daniel, I just need to do something. I'll be back soon." Garry said. Daniel looked around and nodded.

"Ok, I'll keep researching." Daniel replied. With that, Garry left the room to go where he wanted to go. Daniel kept on researching and taking notes. The only noise around was the ticking of the clock. Daniel had a quick look at the clock; 6:30. There would be another half hour of research before Jessica and Garry's mother would arrive. Daniel decided to continue working. Throughout this time, Garry didn't come back. The clock eventually hit 7:00, and Garry still hadn't returned. Daniel saved everything that he had done, since he was getting concerned about Garry. He was busy packing his things when Jessica and Zach entered the room.

"How'd the research go?" Jessica asked. Daniel hadn't noticed his parents enter and nearly leapt out of his skin before turning around.

"Mum, I wish you wouldn't scare me like that." Daniel scolded. Jessica just laughed.

"All I did was ask how the research went." Daniel sighed and sat back down.

"It went well, but we'll need some more information before we can start writing up. Say, is Garry's parents here yet?" Jessica shook her head.

"Where is Garry?" Zach asked.

"He went off about half an hour ago and hasn't come back. Shall I go look for him?"

"If you would. His parents will be here soon and I don't want them to worry." Jessica replied. Daniel began to hasten the packing before Jessica put a hand on his shoulder. "I'll pack you things, you find Garry." Daniel nodded and left the library. The first place he went was the male toilets, but Garry wasn't there. Daniel then decided to search the entire school. He checked the classrooms, the store rooms, even searching the kitchen sink in an attempt to find Garry. Eventually though, he came across a possible clue. While he was walking near the gym, he slipped on a small tuft of hair and fell to the floor. After recuperating, he stood up and had a closer look at the hair. He did a spin change and ended up in a Sherlock Holmes style outfit, complete with a hat, pipe (empty of course) and magnifying glass. He used the magnifying glass to have a close look at the piece of hair he had found.

"Hmm, by my close examination of this hair, I would say that it came from the body of a _Canis lupis familiaris_, commonly know as a dog. And since the looniversity has no domestic dog as a pet, I would summarise that this fur came from one of the students." Daniel said aloud in a Sherlock Holmes accent. At that point, Gogo dodo popped out of the nearby cuckoo clock, dressed up like Dr. Watson, and joined in the conversation and the general gag.

"But Daniel Holmes, that fur could have come from any dog, since there are a lot of dogs in the looniversity." Gogo pointed out.

"Your observation is correct and indeed quite valid Dr. dodo, but you are forgetting that the school janitor comes through the looniversity to clean the grounds at 3:30 every day, and since me and Garry arrived to do our research at 5:30, I would summarise that this piece of hair was left behind be Garry, and one could then deduct that he is not far from this current position. I would even go so far as to suggest that he is even in the gym." Daniel explained, still keeping the accent.

"Brilliant Daniel. How did you figure that out?" Gogo asked, giving Daniel the cue for the inevitable line.

"It was elementary my dear dodo, elementary." With that, Daniel did a spin change back top normal and continued his search.

"That's such a cliché impersonation." Gogo dodo said before disappearing back into the clock. Daniel however, had reached the entrance to the gym, the one place he hadn't checked. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door.

What he saw on the other side of the door was a horrible and gruesome sight, and one that would most likely haunt him for a long time.


	5. Tragic event

(A/N: Reader discretion is advised at the beginning of this chapter. There's also a dream sequence in this chapter, which will be in _Italics_.)

**Tragic event**

Within a few moments of Daniel's discovery, police and paramedics were on the scene, as were Jessica, Zach and Garry's parents. His mother was a tall blue greyhound with bright green eyes. His father was a grey greyhound with blue eyes. The mother was crying heavily into a tissue while his father was hugging her, but he wasn't saying anything. Daniel was at the back of the gym, just sitting down and not speaking. His eyes were closed and tears were dripping down his face. Both Jessica and Zach were kneeling next to him, both with sorrowful eyes. Garry was lying on the floor face up in the gym, bathed in a pool of blood. A dagger had sliced his chest open and was piercing his heart; his own hand holding the hilt. Lying next to him was a scrap of paper with what appeared to be a suicide note written on it. The writing was identified to be Garry's by both his mother and by Jessica. Daniel didn't seem to want to cooperate with the identification of the writing. The letter also had Garry's signature. There was no time for the paramedics to save him, Garry was dead. Both Jessica and Zach were aware of the depression within Garry but never thought that he would resort to this. They both felt powerless to do anything. The loudest sound that could be heard was the sobbing of Garry's mother. She knew of the depression but never saw this coming. She began to blame herself in her head. Slowly but surely, she began to sink in the ground, sinking to her knees on the gym floor. Garry's father followed her down, before he finally went on all fours and began crying into the ground. A police officer went over them to try and comfort them while the paramedics covered the corpse and lifted it into an awaiting ambulance. A police officer also came to Daniel, putting a hand on his shoulder. Daniel didn't respond, as if he was oblivious to the officer's presence. The officer was clearly distressed, but was putting a brave face on and kept a professional look.

"You're a very brave young man Daniel. You did the right thing by calling the authorities once you saw this sight." The officer said. Daniel still didn't reply, choosing instead to sink to the floor and put both hands over his head, as if he was trying to hide his face from the public. The officer looked over at Jessica, who had calmed down a little now. "Mrs. Bunny, I would be grateful if you were to not tell anyone about this. A case of suicide is rare nowadays and we don't want to spread the word and generate a field of sadness." Daniel's ears pricked up ever so slightly. He looked up and looked at his mother. His look suggested that there was something bothering him besides the suicide, but Jessica couldn't sense it. Jessica just put an arm around her son and gave him a tight hug. She had been a secret crime fighter over 20 years ago, but had not seen a case of suicide before. She felt like she had come across something from her past. Zach hugged her while she was hugging her son, resulting in a three way hug. Eventually though, Jessica let go and climbed to her feet. She dared not say anything about what was going on, and even if she wanted to, she physically couldn't. She began to cry ever so slightly. Garry was an intelligent lad with a bright future. Why he would want to commit suicide was beyond her. She wasn't allowed to read the suicide note; that was only for the eyes of the police and Garry's parents. The tears lasted only briefly and she eventually turned to Zach, who just gave her a sorrowful hug.

"Jessica, there's nothing we can do now. We should all head home, have some food and have an early night." Zach whispered. Jessica said nothing, but nodded. She was still in shock about the tragedy. Zach could understand completely; he had never seen an incident like this in his lifetime. He let go of Jessica and knelt down to Daniel's height. Daniel just looked away from his father. "Daniel, we need to go. There's nothing more we can do." Daniel looked up at his father. The look seemed to imply that Daniel felt guilty about the suicide and it was his fault. Zach placed a hand on Daniel's shoulder. "Daniel, it was not your fault. You simply didn't have time to stop him. Don't blame yourself for this." Daniel didn't seem to listen to his father so Zach said no more. Zach stood back up and took hold of Jessica's hand. Daniel finally stood to his feet and walked next to his parents, grabbing his bag as he did. The three began to walk out of the gym but before Daniel left, he turned his head again to look at the scene. He let another tear fall from his eye.

"Garry, what's wrong with me?" Daniel thought to himself before walking away to catch up with his parents.

* * *

_Daniel found himself in a completely black room. There was no light and nobody around. Daniel was scared; he was in a new environment with nobody to tell you. He constantly looked around, trying to see something, but it was too dark. There was no light source and he didn't have any source of light around him. He began to hear some horrible noises. Screams of terror, gunshots, smashing windows and maniacal laughter. Daniel curled up into a ball in terror, not knowing what to do. The noises continued, terrifying him even more. But amongst all of the chaotic noises and sounds came a calm soothing voice. He couldn't recognise it so it terrified him even more._

"_Daniel, Daniel Bunny. Please listen to me." The voice said. Daniel shut his ears and tried not to listen. Instead, he heard the more terrifying sounds but at a much higher volume. Then the calmer sound was heard again. "Daniel, please." Daniel was trying to ignore everything. He didn't know what to do. He was terrified and alone. Even so, it sounded like somebody was trying to comfort him. Before he heard the calm voice again, he heard even more hostile voices._

"_Daniel you loser. You don't have the guts." A voice said._

"_Daniel, why didn't you save me?" A voice that Daniel recognised said._

"_Garry?!" Daniel exclaimed, opening his eyes again. In front of him, illuminated in the darkness, was a silhouette of Garry._

"_Daniel, you could've saved me. Why didn't you?" Garry's voice echoed. Daniel tried to run towards the silhouette but it began to move away from him. Another figure then stepped in the way of him and Garry's silhouette. This was the silhouette that, although Daniel didn't recognise, he seemed to know._

"_You're useless. You couldn't even save your friend." The silhouette spoke. Daniel retreated and curled up into a ball._

"_H-h-how could have I saved him?" Daniel asked in terror._

"_Daniel!" The much calmer voice spoke. A flame then appeared in the corner of Daniel's eye. It seemed to be the flame that was speaking. The flame began to move towards Daniel. "Daniel, touch the flame." The voice said. Daniel didn't know why, but he felt a strong tug from the flame. He reached out with his hand and tried to reach the flame but before he could reach it…_

Daniel woke up in a cold sweat in his own bedroom. He was breathing heavily and his eyes were darting around quickly and suddenly, as if he was looking for something. Eventually though, he gave a bit of a sigh of relief and tried to lie back down. Before he could shut his eyes again, he was interrupted by his mother opening the door.

"Daniel are you ok? I could hear you talking, tossing and turning in your sleep." Jessica asked. Daniel went quiet but gave a nod. His eyes though suggested to Jessica that he wasn't telling the truth, so she went over to the bed and sat down next to him. "Daniel, if something's bothering you, you should tell me and clear your head. If you don't it will affect your performance in all areas." Daniel didn't seem to listen to his mother, instead choosing to roll over and try to get some sleep. Jessica wasn't the type to hurt her own child for being disobedient and stood up from the bed. "Ok, if you don't want to tell me you don't have to, but it would make you feel a lot better. Goodnight." With that, Jessica left the room, leaving Daniel with some things to think about.

* * *

The looniversity was open as normal the next day, but the air seemed very off. The only people who knew about the incident the previous night were Jessica, Zach and Daniel. All three of them were keeping quiet about the incident. In fact, Daniel was keeping quiet full stop. During the lunch break he went outside and sat on a bench in the playground. He needed some time alone even now. He tried to isolate himself from everybody during the day and didn't speak to anyone unless he had to. While he was sitting on the bench alone, Laura, Arnold and Brian were having a stroll together. They were also having a discussion about what had happened in their lives.

"So now my parents have sorted out their differences, things are great." Brian stated with a big grin on his face.

"I'm glad you're happy. I lost 50 bucks on a bet with my mother last night." Arnold moaned. Brian and Laura just laughed.

"Arnold, your mother is a much stronger psychic than you are, you should know that." Arnold just sighed.

"I know, but the bet was something even psychics could not foresee."

"What was the bet?" Laura asked. Arnold took a heavy sigh, getting the horrible feeling that he was going to be laughed out of the park.

"Who could give the most accurate prediction of the future." Both Brian and Laura just burst out laughing while Arnold buried his head in his hands, ashamed to even look at his own feet. He was walking at the back of the group and didn't notice Brian and Laura stop. As a result, he walked straight into Laura's back, Laura turned around and gave Arnold a slap, knocking his beak to the ground.

"Watch where you're going." Arnold growled and picked up his beak.

"You're lucky that I'm not going to fry you. Indicate next time you stop." Arnold was quietened when he saw why Brian and Laura had stopped. They could see Daniel with an extremely depressed look in his face. Laura did a spin change into a medical garb and walked closer to Daniel. She then proceeded to take numerous medical readings, hoping to get a response.

"Ok, let's see here, body temperature normal, breathing rate normal, pulse normal, but completely incapable of response." Laura diagnosed.

"Either incapable or not willing." Arnold whispered to Brian. Brian walked over to Daniel and shook his shoulder.

"Daniel, its Brian. Can you hear me?" Brian asked. He didn't get a response. Brian then took out a carrot and waved it in front of Daniel's nose. There was still no response. He then took out his tape recorder and played the loudest sound he had. It was the sound of an atomic explosion that forced Laura to cover her ears, knocked Brian to the floor and blew all of Arnold's feather's off, leaving him wearing a pair of blue boxer shorts. He didn't realise until he saw Laura hiding behind Arnold covering her eyes and Brian smirking.

"You know, you should always number your feathers for just such an emergency." A voice from behind Arnold said. The voice belonged to loudmouth, the son of Fowlmouth. He was a white rooster with a red waddle and a yellow beak. Loudmouth just chuckled and walked off. Arnold gathered his feathers and did a spin change. When he was finished, all of his feathers were in place. The loud noise hadn't gained a reaction from Daniel though.

"Well, its official, Daniel's deaf." Laura stated.

"Well so would you if that sound exploded next to your ears." Arnold protested.

"Arnold, maybe you could find out what's wrong by reading his aura." Brian suggested. Arnold looked at Brian and then back at Daniel before finally nodding.

"Worth a try." Before Arnold had a chance to read Daniel's aura, he stood up and began to walk away.

"Leave me alone guys, I need some time alone." Daniel spoke as he walked away, leaving Laura, Arnold and Brian quite worried.

"Was it something we said?" Everybody asked each other.


	6. Moving on

**Moving on**

Daniel was not in the right frame of mind in order to do the research for the project by himself. Garry's death had obviously hurt him pretty badly mentally. He spent even more time alone during the next few days and found it almost impossible to do anything, even when the looniversity elected Laura to be Garry's replacement. Laura was not told about the death, but instead told that Garry was far too ill to continue with the project. Laura had gotten the second most votes behind Daniel and Garry in the voting, so she seemed an obvious choice. On Thursday night, the two were in the library, trying to do the research. Daniel however, didn't seem to be doing anything. Every time he tried to do some work, his mind would freeze and he would be finding himself thinking about Monday. The dream he had had the first night after the death was repeating itself every night, and would end at the exact same point. He hadn't told anybody about the dream, not even his parents. He was slowly becoming even more solitary, as if something was eating his mind away. Laura, Arnold and Brian couldn't help but show some friendly concern. Daniel would always move away from Arnold before Arnold had a chance to do a mind scan, as if there was something he was hiding from everyone. Laura was currently typing up a few notes, but still looked over at Daniel with a worried expression. She was hoping to be able to get to the bottom of Daniel's depression but was getting absolutely nowhere with it. She thought it was best for the moment to not say anything and see if Daniel would say anything. The minutes ticked by and there was no word from Daniel. He was either just staring into space or reading some books while jotting down a few notes. Laura was now getting anxious. They had only 15 minutes until their research period for the night was up and Daniel had done very little work. She decided that it might be a good idea to try and start a conversation. She got down from the chair she was sitting on and went towards him. However, when she reached within arms reach, Daniel's expression changed. He suddenly began looking around the room, as if watching something walking around. Laura tried to see what Daniel was looking at, but couldn't see anything peculiar. Daniel, however, was seeing something quite disturbing. The spirit of Garry was floating around the library, though only Daniel could see it. Garry's ghost had a look of sadness and anger. It wasn't speaking at all, but it seemed focused on Daniel. Daniel watched its every move, letting tears fall from his eyes. The sight of tears falling from Daniel's eyes made Laura leave the library to go and fetch his parents, who were in Jessica's office doing some work themselves. Left on his own, Daniel just continued to watch the ghost before putting his head on the desk and cry. Garry's ghost approached Daniel and passed right through him, sending a chill down his spine. Daniel stopped crying briefly and looked up at the ghost.

"Garry, is it my fault that you died?" Daniel asked. The ghost seemed to understand the question and shook its head. Daniel's mind however told him the opposite. "But it was my fault. I could've done something if I was quicker than I was." The ghost shook his head, as if it was saying that Daniel was wrong, but Daniel still kept his delusion. "I should've moved faster. I'm one of the fastest students here, but I didn't reach you in time." Daniel banged the table with his fist in frustration before putting his head to the table and resume crying. The ghost flew through Daniel again to get him to stop. Daniel felt the chill and looked up at the ghost again. The ghost started to spell with its hand. Daniel read the spelling aloud. "Don't… blame… your… self… for… my… death… you… did… the… best… you… could. But Garry, my best wasn't good enough. I feel so powerless now." Daniel began to cry again. The ghost just disappeared, seemingly unhappy about how the 'discussion' had gone. It was soon after the ghost disappeared that Laura returned into the library, with Jessica close behind. Jessica sat down next to her crying son and put an arm around him.

"Daniel, why are you holding yourself in depression? It wasn't your fault that Garry died." Jessica said calmly. Daniel continued to cry into his arms. Jessica looked around with a helpless expression on her face. It was now 7:00 and the research period was up. Laura had already begun packing her things away. Jessica seemed unable to stop her son from crying. She then had an idea. Out of all of his friends, Laura was the one he trusted the most. Perhaps if Daniel was to stay with her for a while, he might open up to her. Jessica looked over towards Laura, who had just finished packing her stuff. "Laura, can I ask you a favour?" Laura looked over at Jessica and came over.

"What's on your mind?" Laura asked. Jessica knelt down beside Laura and put a hand on your shoulder.

"Would it harm some plans of yours if Daniel was to stay with you for a couple of hours tonight? Daniel seems to trust you the most and I'm hoping that he may open up his depression to you, or at least forget about it for a while." Laura looked over at Daniel, who was still crying. She felt really bad for his depression but didn't know if she could really do anything about it. Before she could answer, her parents entered the room by majestically jumping through the door.

"Hello, I'm Buster Bunny." Buster greeted as he entered.

"And I'm Babs Bunny." Babs added before looking at each other.

"Relation!" They both finished. Jessica gave a laugh but Daniel didn't respond well. He stopped crying but that was it. Both Buster and Babs immediately noticed Daniel's depression.

"Still feeling down about Monday Dan?" Buster asked. Babs did a spin change and finished up with a golden wig and completely black clothing. Buster followed on and held up an empty photo frame in front of Babs' face while Laura held up a black screen behind it. The result was what appeared to be a floating rabbit head with golden hair.

"You need to deal with your grief chap." Babs spoke. Daniel finally looked up at Babs, not knowing who she was impersonating.

"What do you mean Babs?" Daniel asked.

"Believe you me, time is the best healer there is. Unless you have a cough, in which case you're better off using Benylin." Daniel didn't even crack a smile, but Jessica started laughing. Babs did a spin-change back to normal while Buster and Laura put the props away.

"Buster, Babs, can I ask you a favour?" Jessica asked. Buster immediately went up to Jessica and put a hand on her shoulder.

"What can we do for ya principless?" Buster asked, gaining a smirk.

"Please, not so formal at this time of day. I was hoping that you'd be able to look after Daniel for a couple of hours tonight. I'm hoping that he'll open up to Laura a little."

"We have a problem with that in that we aren't able to give him a lift back home. The car has a flat tire and we had to walk here." Babs explained. Daniel seemed to be listening to the conversation and had obviously gotten over his depression a little bit.

"I'll walk back myself." Daniel said. Everybody looked at him, since he hadn't spoken for ages.

"Will you be ok? I don't want you having a depression attack on your way home?" Jessica asked. Daniel simply nodded.

"I just need a bit of time away from home to straighten a few thoughts in my head about."

"What kind of thoughts?" Everybody asked. Daniel suddenly went quiet again

"I-I- I don't want to say."

* * *

Later on that evening. Daniel was spending a couple of hours at Laura's house. They lived in the burrow that Buster Bunny lived in when he attended the looniversity, only it had been converted to accommodate the large family. All of the children had their own rooms. Laura had one brother and one sister. Both of them attended the looniversity with her. Her brother was called Mason. He was a brown rabbit with green eyes. Her sister was called Petunia. She got her name because she was born on the same day as the late Petunia pig, so it seemed a fitting tribute. Petunia was a blue rabbit with pink hair and brown eyes. Mason and Petunia were in their rooms doing some private reading while Laura and Daniel were sitting in the lounge watching one of the old Tiny Toon Adventures cartoons. Buster and Babs had the whole selection in their house, and often invited the rest of the TTA crowd round to reminisce about the good old days. Little of the interior design had changed since the time Buster lived alone, other than a few extra pieces of furniture and the new rooms added. Buster and Babs were in their room doing some preparation for their classes tomorrow. Laura and Daniel were sitting on the sofa while watching 'Prom-ise her anything'. They were both sitting at opposite ends of the sofa and limiting contact. This suited Daniel just fine, as he was still trying to sort out his own thoughts. He went a bit wide-eyed when he saw the number of Babs' brothers and sisters. 

"Those are all your uncles and aunts?" Daniel asked; a little shocked at the huge number. Laura laughed quite heavily for a moment.

"If you're shocked at that number, you should see how many cousins I have." Laura added. The thought alone was enough to make Daniel's jaw drop to the floor, making a loud clang as it hit the floor. Laura couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"I do not want that many kids if I have any." Daniel stuttered, realigning his bottom jaw. He seemed to have gotten over his depression now, but he was still clearly thinking about something. In truth, he couldn't get the events of Monday out of his mind. Laura's company had meant that he was no longer letting them get him so depressed, especially when Laura had put on Buster and Babs' old shows. Daniel hadn't even watch TV since the incident, but now that he was, it was melting away most of his worries. He cast a look at Laura whenever a romantic moment happened in the cartoon to see what she would do. She just continued to watch the show like she was watching an experiment. She didn't even cast a second glance at him, until she decided to try and make a conversation.

"Daniel, I've been wondering. What were your parents like when they were in the looniversity?" Laura asked. Daniel turned and looked at her.

"To be honest, they don't talk about it much. At that time, my grandfather Bugs was still the principle, just like he was when your parents were there. That's about the most they've mentioned." Daniel replied.

"Oh." Was all Laura could say. She shuffled closer to Daniel but still kept a small distance away from him. Daniel did notice but didn't seem to be bothered. "How are you feeling?" Laura suddenly asked. Daniel seemed to respond to the question.

"I'm fine. But I'd rather not talk about Monday if that's alright with you." Laura nodded sympathetically in response. The episode soon finished and Daniel had a look at the clock. He then stood up from the sofa. "I'd better go home now Laura." Laura nodded and stood up as well.

"Ok, please be careful." Laura replied, showing some friendly concern. Daniel nodded in response.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

* * *

Daniel's walk home took him near the park in the centre of town. He decided that he would stop here and have a sit down on one of the benches. The bench he chose was close to the main road, so he could resume walking quickly when he was ready to. He paused to look up at the stars in the night sky. The sky was clear and stars were visible in all direction. Daniel started absent-mindedly connecting stars in his mind. He created shapes such as a dynamite stick, a door, a banana, a kitchen sink and eventually Garry. Daniel stopped when he created this picture, suddenly being haunted by memories of Monday. He was snapped out of those thoughts quickly though, as a car pulled up in front of him. The car was a white hover car. Daniel watched as the window opened and the head of a rat popped out. The rat had an orange head and black eyes. Next to this rat came another rat head, this one more red in color. Daniel recognised them immediately; Roderick and Rhubella rat, ex Perfecto prep students. Although they weren't the head teachers, their child was the top student at Perfecto prep. A chill went down his spine. 

"Well, if it isn't the ex leaders of Pathetico prep." Daniel greeted as menacingly as possible, keeping the rivalry and trying to intimidate them while also making fun of the school. There was a huge amount of venom in his voice, as if he had a deep hatred towards the two rats. So much in fact that a drop of saliva that dribbled from his mouth as he spoke burnt away a patch of grass. Roderick growled in response.

"How rude. You'd think one of the Acme loo-sers would be nicer." Roderick sneered. Rhubella stroked his chin to calm her down.

"Calm down dear. What would you expect from the child of the principless." Rhubella said calmly. Roderick shrugged.

"I suppose the child of an idiot is an idiot."

"My parents are not idiots!" Daniel spat at the two rats. Roderick growled in a menacing tone.

"Is that any way to talk to superior people?" Roderick's question prompted a vicious growl from Daniel, while at the same time he began to back away slowly. What he said next was filled with so much venom the nearby plants wilted.

"So says the rat that cheat to win. So says the rat that's scared to play by the rules.  
So says the rat that comes from the worst school this place has ever seen. You two have gone down to the lowest possible level" Daniel turned and ran after shouting that last statement, trying to get as far away from Roderick and Rhubella as possible. He had obviously insulted their pride, since they decided to give chase. The window of their car closed that it began to give chase.

((To clarify, Babs' spin change comes from Red Dwarf, where a similar gag is said. She is impersonating the Female 'Holly' from series 3-5 and a brief appearance in series 2 of the show.))


	7. On the run

**On the run**

Daniel took a look back as he ran, only to see Roderick and Rhubella chasing in their car. Daniel was running through the park to try and get away. Although they weren't in the park, Roderick and Rhubella were driving around the outside of the park, waiting for him to come out. Daniel had enough energy to run through the whole park but he chose to try a different tactic. It was a long walk back home and he had to get home before Roderick and Rhubella caught up with him. If they did, there was no telling what they would do to him for insulting their old school. He decided not to think about that and came up with a plan. He hit the ground and dug underground. Once underground, he dug towards the road, dug through the tarmac and created a bump in the road. The car Roderick and Rhubella were in hit the bump, took to the air since it was moving so fast and landed on its back. Daniel returned to the surface on the other side of the road and rubbed his paws together as he watched Roderick and Rhubella climb out of their upturned car.

"We rabbits don't have such big paws for no reason." Daniel taunted. He then turned and ran again. Roderick and Rhubella began to chase on foot. Daniel did a spin change, finishing up disguised as the late Roadrunner. With a quick "Beep beep", he ran away from the pursuing rats. Daniel had a significant lead over Roderick and Rhubella so did a spin change back to normal. Once back to normal, he climbed up a nearby streetlight and jumped from that one to the next, putting even more distance between him and the Rats. He stopped to look behind him, still hanging onto the streetlight to check on his pursuers. They were still visible but a significant distance behind. Daniel decided to land back on the ground and resume running. This choice was partly due to the fact that he had run out of streetlights to leap between. However, running on foot allowed Roderick and Rhubella to catch up to him. He began to run as fast as he could, since he could see some traffic lights ahead. As he approached them, they began to turn red. He was able to get past them before they turned red. Due to the red light, Roderick and Rhubella had to stop. They watched as a more grown up lil' bleeper ran across the road, being pursued by a more grown up calamite coyote. Once they had run over in front of Roderick and Rhubella, the light turned green again, allowing them to continue their chase of Daniel. Daniel needed to have a rest so he did a spin change into a standard pedestrian and sat down on a nearby bench. Once sat down, he waited until Roderick and Rhubella approached him. They stopped right in front of him. Roderick turned to look at Daniel, not recognising him.

"Sir, did you see a young rabbit run past?" Roderick asked. Daniel nodded in response.

"He went that way." Daniel said, disguising his voice to avoid recognition. He also pointed directly opposite him, which wasn't the direction he wanted to go.

"Thanks." With that, Roderick and Rhubella ran in the direction that Daniel had pointed out. Daniel gave a sigh of relief. Having rested enough, he began to resume his journey home. He began with just a walk, so as to conserve energy. He was, however, prepared to break into a run should Roderick and Rhubella make a reappearance. He began to whistle to himself as he walked, passing an alleyway that used to be the home of Furball. Daniel looked into the alleyway briefly and saw Furball with a bouquet of flowers in his hand. Hairball was next to him. Taking no heed, Daniel continued on his way. However, when he came to a crossroad, he saw Roderick and Rhubella again. They were coming at him from the right hand side.

"Hey, you slippery rodent. Come back here!" Roderick shouted. Daniel began to run again, with the two rats in chase. Daniel was now getting worn out again. He had to get home before Roderick and Rhubella caught up with him. This was made even harder when discs were thrown at him. Rhubella was trying to slow Daniel down by throwing objects at him while she ran after him. Daniel had to move from side to side to avoid being hit. They were now approaching Daniel's house. Daniel had a bit of a distance ahead of Roderick and Rhubella, so he had a good chance to get away. He could see his house in the distance, so picked up the pace, even though he was running out of energy. Daniel finally took out a carrot from his pocket and began to munch on it as he ran. The carrot gave him the energy he needed to get away. He finally reached the front door to his house. Jessica was waiting outside for him. When she saw him run past her and into the house, she grew concerned about him. This concern turned to anger when she saw Roderick and Rhubella running up to the house. Jessica calmly approached them and stopped them.

* * *

"Well, well, well, Roderick and Rhubella. Haven't seen you in a while." Jessica greeted with a sneer.

"Rodent, get out of our way!" Roderick scolded.

"Some talk from a rodent. Besides, rabbits aren't rodents." There was a small amount of venom in her voice, but Jessica was keeping her cool. Rhubella gave a threatening growl, which did not intimidate Jessica at all.

"Jessy, your son insulted Perfecto prep. Bring him out here before…" Rhubella stopped when she saw Jessica's temper rise. Her ears flattened and her eyes narrowed.

"Don't. Ever. Call. Me. Jessie!" Jessica scolded before lunging at Rhubella. Rhubella rushed back and tried to knee Jessica in the gut. Jessica dodged and launched a counter attack, landing with a powerful uppercut to Rhubella's chin. Roderick leapt in and tried to kick Jessica in the gut, but was stopped by another hand. Zach was now joining in the fight. He was watching the incident from the window and decided to get involved.

"Now, now Roddy, don't you know it's not polite to hit a girl?" Zach asked before throwing Roderick's foot. Roderick was sent spinning to the ground but he quickly climbed back to his feet. Rhubella lunged at Jessica again. Jessica side stepped her attack and grabbed the rat's tail. She then began to swing Rhubella like a weight and then threw Rhubella into Roderick, knocking them both to the floor. Rhubella groggily climbed back to her feet and ran at Jessica again. This time, Jessica braced herself and caught Rhubella's tackle. Once in her hands, Jessica gave a knee to the gut to knock her to the floor. Zach was still dealing with Roderick. Roderick attempted a jumping kick towards Zach. Zach dodged the kick and gave a punch to the back of the head. Zach followed this up by grabbing Roderick's tail and lifting Roderick over his own head and then slamming him back onto the ground. Roderick climbed back up to his feet and tried to land a punch onto Zach's lower jaw. Zach dodged and knocked Roderick back to the ground with a sweeping kick. Rhubella had recovered from her beating and was ready for more. She tried to grab hold of Jessica in a bear hug. Jessica jumped as high as she could and landed on Rhubella's shoulders. The impact knocked Rhubella to the floor. Jessica decided to stay on top of Rhubella to prevent her from getting back up. While she was on her, Jessica knelt on Rhubella's back and leant next to the rat's ear.

"Never call me Jessy and never harm my son." Jessica said in a very low, menacing tone. Zach was still fighting Roderick. Roderick was now getting very tired while Zach still had a lot of energy left. In a desperate attempt, Roderick rushed at Zach and threw a punch to Zach's chest. Zach grabbed the fist and twisted it before giving a sweeping kick that sent Roderick to the floor. Zach ten took Jessica's lead and knelt down on Roderick, preventing him from moving. Zach then leant down to Roderick's ear.

"Now you leave our family alone rat. You shouldn't have come here in the first place." Zach growled. With that, both Rabbits climbed off of their defeated adversaries. Roderick and Rhubella growled and backed away.

"Ok rabbits, you beat us. We'll leave." Rhubella said quietly. With that, both Roderick and Rhubella ran away from the house as fast as their worn out bodies would take them. Jessica dusted herself down with her hands, thankful that the authorities hadn't gotten involved. Zach dusted himself down and stretched out.

"Looks like we still have the old skills." Zach said. Jessica would've slapped him if there was anyone else around but since there weren't, she just smiled.

"Zach honey, I need to talk to Daniel about that incident." Jessica said. Zach nodded understandably. He was concerned about his son as much as Jessica was. There was little that the two were doing at the moment, other than preparations for the following day at the Looniversity, and that was nearly done.

"I'll finish up on preparations for tomorrow then."

* * *

Daniel had retired to his room and had returned to crying. He was still grieving over Garry but he also seemed to be crying about getting into trouble with Roderick and Rhubella. This was the first time in his life that something like that had happened to him. He was worried about inevitably having to talk to his mother about the incident. He didn't want to explain the exact reason for the chase, but he might have no choice. He suddenly held his head and collapsed on the bed. He was having a daydream, but it was more like a nightmare. It was the exact same nightmare he had been having for the past few days, ever since Garry's death. This was the first time he was having it during the day. During the nightmare, Jessica entered his bedroom. She nearly panicked at the sight of her son on the bed holding his head and crying. She nervously put a hand on Daniel's shoulder, hoping to get his attention. Daniel reacted by leaping out of his skin, nearly literally. He leapt about 1 metre into the air and landed back on the bed. His heart was racing, like a marathon athlete. His breathing was as heavy as the breathing you'd expect from someone terrified out of his or her skin. His eyes began darting around the room. When he saw his mother, he fell into her arms and sobbed a little. Jessica did little but rub his back to try and calm him down, but what she had to ask would be quite painful.

"Daniel, why were Roderick and Rhubella chasing you?" Jessica's question stopped Daniel from crying and he looked up at her. He then looked down at the floor and said nothing. He did not want to explain what had happened, but something in his mind told him that there was no choice. A tear fell from his eye before he looked back up at his mother.

"It was my fault. I insulted their pride." Daniel replied. Jessica looked surprised. It was not like Daniel to do anything like that without any provocation. She put Daniel back down on the bed and sat down next to him.

"Why did you do that?" Daniel looked to the floor again. He wanted to avoid the question so he quickly made something up.

"I just felt a sudden hatred towards them. I don't know why." This was half-true. When he saw Roderick and Rhubella, he was suddenly overcome by a feeling of hatred, bypassing anger immediately. Jessica couldn't understand something though.

"If you don't know where the hatred came from, why did it come?" Daniel was feeling pressured to answer the question so he quickly changed the subject.

"Mum, what do you know about dreams?" Jessica looked a little surprised at Daniel's question. This was the first time he had mentioned dreams for a long time, but she figured what it might be about.

"You've been having bad dreams recently haven't you?" Daniel nodded in response. There was little point in hiding the dreams any more.

"Yes. I've been having the same terrible dream every day since Monday. And just now, I had one during the day before you came in." Jessica gave her son a cuddle. She had a think as well, and guessed what the dream might be about. She decided to mention something.

"Daniel, you can't hold yourself responsible for Garry's death. There was no way you could've prevented the suicide." Jessica immediately regretted saying what she had just said when she saw Daniel's head drop down and his ears fall. A few more tears fall and there was an uncomfortable silence, broken only by the ticking of a clock. Finally, Daniel spoke again, and what he said was a shocking revelation. He had hidden it for days but he finally decided that there was no point in concealing it any more.

"It wasn't suicide."


	8. The truth

**The Truth**

"It wasn't suicide." Those words echoed throughout the room for a brief moment. Jessica couldn't believe what she had just heard. She could've sworn her heart had just skipped a beat. The evidence found at the scene seemed to categorically prove that Garry had committed suicide, but Daniel was claiming that it was not suicide. She couldn't think of anything to say. She was trying to contemplate what Daniel had just told her. Her head began buzzing with several possibilities. Some didn't bear thinking about while others had some possibility. The main thing though, was that Daniel was having a guilt trip and was making something up.

"Daniel, what do you mean that it wasn't suicide?" Jessica asked. Daniel looked up at his mother. The facial expression immediately told Jessica that he was being dead serious with his story.

"I saw some of the incident. It wasn't suicide; it was murder…"

_Flashback_

_Daniel, had reached the entrance to the gym, the one place he hadn't checked. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door. What he saw on the other side was a horrible and gruesome sight. Garry was lying on the floor, in a pool of his own blood. There was also a dagger in his chest. Near the body were two shadowy figures, both with long tails. Covered in a long cloak that prevented identification. Daniel immediately suspected that they were rats. One of them was writing a note on some notepaper. Daniel was frozen to his spot. He was unable to move or speak, which was probably a good thing. If he did move, the two would surely spot him. While one was writing on notepaper, the other was manipulating the hand of the dead Garry so that it was holding the dagger in his chest. It became obvious to Daniel now. For some reason, the two had murdered Garry and were making it look like suicide. Daniel found himself completely muted by fear. He wanted to run off and find his parents, but his legs weren't listening. All he could do was watch the scene from where he was, while keeping out of sight as best as he could. He just watched as the piece of notepaper was placed next to Garry's body by the figure that had it. The second figure then moved Garry's hand and made it touch the note, so that Garry's fingerprints would be shown should the letter be fingerprinted. Both figures were wearing gloves so their fingerprints would not be shown anywhere. The figures then made a silly mistake by lifting the hoods of the outfits slightly. Daniel could now clearly see that the two figures were definitely rats. Daniel could not identify them from so far away, but he was able to hear the following discussion._

"_Great work, now the Acme Loo-sers have lost one of their best researchers." One of them said. The voice was masculine and had a rather menacing tone._

"_Even better considering his depression. He was the easiest to give an assisted suicide to." The other said. This voice was feminine and was a little sweeter, but still menacing._

"_Now our old school has nothing to fear. I doubt that the Loo-sers will be able to cope with the loss of one of their researchers…"_

"_And Perfecto Prep will finally win for once. You know, I feel good for helping them out, even though we don't work there."_

"_At least we're helping them. The Perfecto prep spirit will still live within us, and we'll never be caught." The figure that said this sounded very confident about this statement. The other figure approached and gave what looked like a kiss to the cheek._

"_Come on honey, let's go home and wait for the good news." With that, the two figures left the gym through the back door. Daniel had remained still and silent throughout everything. He had just seen the aftermath of a murder. He wanted to rush off and tell everyone about it, but something in his mind prevented him. He couldn't move and was struck mute. He couldn't even speak to himself about what he had just seen. His heart began racing and his breathing became heavy. He suddenly collapsed to the floor, buried his head in his hands and began to cry._

_End Flashback_

After recounting his flashback, Daniel put his head into his hands again and began to cry heavily. It was a terribly painful memory that he had kept secret from everybody, until now. He thought he would be able to get over his grief by recounting his story, but he only felt even sadder. He couldn't even speak through his tears. After listening to the story, an old fire, one that had seemed to die out for years, reignited in Jessica's heart. She put a hand on Daniel's shoulder to try and cheer him up.

"Daniel, why didn't you tell anyone about his at the time?" Jessica asked. Daniel didn't reply at first, since he was still crying. When he eventually paused in crying, he looked up at Jessica.

"I don't know. I wanted to say, but something prevented me from doing so." Daniel replied. He then grabbed his pillow and punched it with his fist. "I'm no hero. I'm just a coward who couldn't stand up for someone in need." Daniel paused again to punch his pillow again. Jessica stood up from the bed and moved away so she wasn't hit by accident. Daniel then spoke again. "I want to do something to redeem myself. But there's nothing I can do." Daniel thumped the pillow again in frustration and then began to cry again. Jessica decided to quietly leave Daniel's room. She had an idea and wanted to talk to Zach about it.

* * *

Zach was in the master bedroom, preparing a few library documents for the next day at the looniversity. The master bedroom, where Jessica and Zach slept, was the biggest room in the house, not including the secret basement. The room was the location of the painting of the looniversity that hid the entrance to the Foxcave. The hadn't been there for a week; the last time they went there was to pay a small tribute to King while Daniel was out with some friends. The master bedroom had a double bed with a red duvet and pillows. The walls of the room were painted blue. The rest of the room was furnished with a few cupboards, a vanity mirror and a door that lead to an en suite bathroom. The room was not designed as a flashy, rich looking room that was seen in some big places because neither Jessica nor Zach wanted to live that way. Zach still had a bit of work to do, and was contemplating on taking a break when Jessica entered the room. She went over to the bed and sat down with a heavy heart. She was still a little overwhelmed about what Daniel had just told her. She now had to tell Zach about what she had just learned. Zach had noticed her enter and sat up on the bed next to her. Upon sitting down, he immediately noticed her trouble expression.

"Jessica, what's wrong?" Zach asked. Jessica looked over at him. He immediately saw not only a troubled look, but also the eyes of the old vigilante she used to be. This immediately told him that something had happened.

"Zach, I've just spoken to Daniel. He told me that Garry's death was murder, not suicide." Jessica explained. She then saw Zach's expression change to a look of disbelief. It seemed to him that everything that the evidence had shown was not true. There was a sudden inner conflict with his thoughts. One half of him wanted to believe what his wife had just said, but the other half wanted to believe the evidence. The conflict didn't last long, and he chose to believe his wife on this matter.

"Daniel said that it was murder. That means he saw the incident." Jessica nodded in response to Zach's comment.

"Daniel came across the aftermath of the murder. He said that something prevented him from mentioning it at the time."

"I'd also say that it's the reason for his guilt. Just like we've felt guilty in the past." Jessica nodded before continuing.

"What gets me the most though is that he said he wanted to do something but couldn't. I think he can do something." Zach immediately cottoned onto Jessica's idea and nodded.

"The fox has been gone for some time. I can tell what you're thinking, and you're right. It's time to pass on the flame." Jessica nodded and stood up from the bed. She then suddenly sat back down again.

"How do you think he'll react from the truth?" Jessica asked. Zach put an arm around Jessica.

"I really don't know. If he's anything like you, he'll jump at the idea of being able to do something to redeem himself." Jessica nodded and paused in a memory. She was remembering the time that she accepted the flame from the ghost of Brett, the very first FoxFang. It was a day that changed her life forever. From that moment, she became the being that would eventually descend into urban legend. Soon after, Zach joined the fold and together, along with the late Egghead Jr, Plucky Duck, Shirley McLoon (as she was back then), King and eventually her parents and brother, they became the city's protector's until they grew too big for the uniforms and had to retire. They had seen some horrific things in their careers as vigilantes and eventually honorary deputies. Some of them had left mental scars that lasted even to this day. Not a day went by without either of them thinking back to their most horrific moments. Eventually though, Jessica snapped out of her thoughts and stood up. The old leadership behavior that had been hidden for such a long time had awoken.

"Zach, prepare the cave. I'll go get the new hero." Zach nodded in response to the request, deciding not to argue with his wife, and went over to the painting of the looniversity. He placed a hand on the center and the wall opened, revealing an elevator. Zach stepped inside and looked over at Jessica.

"I'll see you two in a minute." With that, Zach began to descend to the Foxcave while Jessica went back to Daniel's room.

* * *

When Jessica returned back at Daniel's room, she found that Daniel has calmed down and was reading the book he had taken out of the library, something she hadn't seen him do in a while. Truth be told, he read it every night since Garry's death. Today he was, like always, reading the chapter on FoxFang. Jessica kept quiet and let him read for a bit. She watched as he read the book, being reminded again of the day she accepted the flame. She had read the same book during the day, and then her world got rocked. She didn't realize that reading that book would be the first rung on the ladder to legend, and it would be the first rung on Daniel's same ladder.

"I know you're there mother." Daniel's words shook her back to reality. She went over to Daniel's bed and sat down next to her son. "What do you want?" Daniel's voice sounded a little harsh, as if he wanted to be left alone. Jessica put a hand on his shoulder to try and calm him down.

"Daniel, I've just been talking with your father about what you said earlier. I think you could be a hero…" Jessica was interrupted when Daniel gave a bit of a glare at her. He did not want to be disturbed and be told the opposite to what he believed.

"Mum, I already told you, I am no hero. I'm just a coward who couldn't stand for justice at a crucial moment."

"Daniel, mistakes can be corrected. You've already told me the truth. It takes a lot of courage to actually say something like that to anybody. That's because people are generally scared of the culprits finding out and exacting revenge. That's probably what you thought." Jessica's speech earned her a look from Daniel. The look was very brief and he eventually turned back to the book.

"I'm still not a hero. The FoxFang was a hero. I'm not like him." Daniel closed the book and began to sulk into a pillow. "What would the real Fox do in my situation?" Daniel meant this to be a rhetorical question. He wasn't expecting Jessica to answer the question.

"If the Fox was in your situation, he would use your knowledge, combine it with his own resources and bring the criminals to justice." Jessica's response earner her a puzzled look from Daniel. He then returned to his sulking.

"The way your speaking is like you knew the FoxFang." A smirk came over Jessica's face. She rubbed Daniel's shoulder and gained his attention.

"I did know the FoxFang." Jessica then took the hand of her son, who was now looking at her with a very skeptical look. He didn't know whether he should believe Jessica or not, but decided to play along with what she wanted. "Daniel, it's time you learnt our family secret."


	9. Passing the flame

**Passing the flame**

Jessica led Daniel to the master bedroom. The main reason that Daniel was following was out of sheer curiosity. Jessica had mentioned a family secret, which had tickled his interest. Jessica stopped in front of the looniversity painting in the bedroom. Daniel had a look at the painting with a very sceptical look. He had seen the painting quite a few times before, so had no idea what was so special about it. Jessica went up to the painting and then turned to look at Daniel, who was standing still out of curiosity and scepticism.

"Daniel, behind this painting is our family secret. It's been around ever since me and your father were your age." Jessica began. Daniel raised an eyebrow in response. "Your grandparents, my parents, know about this as well, as do your uncle and the parents of your friend Arnold. Other than them, what I am about to show you is not known to anyone alive." Daniel went over to the painting and had a closer look at it. In his eyes, it didn't seem any different from any other painting, so he couldn't see anything special about the painting.

"So, what is this secret?" Daniel asked. Jessica knelt down and put a hand on her son's shoulder.

"I'll show you in a minute, but you are prohibited from telling anyone unless I give you position. You'll understand why when you see." Daniel gave a nod; he was intending to keep the secret anyway. It was a family secret and it would be disrespectful if he told anyone. Jessica put a hand on the same spot that Zach had touched a moment ago. Daniel's eyes went wide as the hidden door opened and the secret elevator was opened. Jessica didn't bat an eyelid, but did notice Daniel's reaction. She took hold of Daniel's hand and walked into the lift with him. Once they were both in, she pressed another button and the door closed. "We'll be going down quite a distance Daniel." Jessica warned as the lift began to descend. Daniel took the opportunity to try and contemplate what was happening. His mother had told him that she knew the Fox back in her time. She was now taking him somewhere that he didn't even know existed. At first, he didn't believe that the Fox existed, thinking it was just a mirage. Now he wasn't sure what to think. He silently doubted her mother's sanity, though he didn't say anything. The lift reached its destination before he could finish sorting out his thoughts. The stop was so gentle he didn't notice it until his mother tapped him on the shoulder. "We've arrived Daniel." With that, Jessica pushed another button in the lift and the doors opened. Daniel couldn't believe what was on the other side. It was the Foxcave, a little bit larger than it was 20 years ago. The memorial that had been built in memory of Richard and Rebecca Yang was still there and holding strong. The computer was pretty much the same as it was back then, but it had been updated with newer software. Jessica and Zach had done this secretly, just in case it was needed again. Zach had reactivated the computer as soon as he arrived in the cave. Next to the computer was a small statue of a fox. On the fox's head was a pot. It was the pot that contained King's ashes. The old outfit that had been made for King was draped over the statue. Next to this statue was another statue, this one of the late Egghead Jr, who had been a vital helper in the past. The chicken had been buried near his old home, but the statue served as a private memorial. The cases that contained the uniforms were still there, and still assigned to Jessica and Zach's handprint. The vehicles had been upgraded so it included all of the new technology. Now the Fangmobile was more jet-like. The hoverfox had been made quite redundant, as had the FoxChopper. The Fangmobile took the place of both, since it could fly and hover above ground, allowing it to access all areas. It could even go underwater to an extent. The Foxbikes remained relatively unchanged, other than being powered by water, like most vehicles nowadays. The upgrades had been made should the vehicles be needed again, and soon may be needed. The old entrances that led to where Jessica and Zach used to live had long been sealed; the door closed off and a stone wall built in front of the doors. The training section was now much more expansive, covering for every aspect of training that Jessica and Zach needed back in their day; from stealth to strength to accuracy. Daniel took a moment to take in the awesome sight that stood in front of him. He had no idea something like this existed underneath the house. He didn't notice Jessica head down from the lift and towards the computer. Out of curiosity, Daniel followed her. When Jessica reached the computer, the first thing she did was kneel down to the statues of King and Egghead Jr. She placed a small slab of pet food at the base of the King memorial as an offering. After all, it was the anniversary of the day King died. "Hello King. Thank you for watching over the cave…" Jessica paused when she realised that Daniel was right behind her, with a very sceptical look on his face. "King, this is my son Daniel." Jessica turned around to face Daniel. "Daniel, this is a memorial to King. He was a valuable friend. He died on this day roughly 20 years ago." Daniel nodded, went forward and put a hand on the side of the face of the statue. Zach was watching the scene from the chair of the computer.

"King would love you for that if he was still alive Daniel." Zach explained. Daniel looked over at Zach and gave him a smile before looking back at the statue.

"It looks like King was a Fox." Daniel commented. Both Jessica and Zach nodded.

"An Arctic Fox to be exact." Jessica said. Daniel looked up at the computer that Zach was working on. Zach had brought up a map of the whole city as it was. Zach noticed Daniel and looked down at him.

"Do you know where we are yet Daniel?" Daniel shook his head in response to Zach's question. Jessica had gone over to the case that contained her old uniform. She opened it up and took the old uniform out. It triggered memories of the times she had when she wore the suit. She and Zach were involved in several battles, some with high costs. After reminiscing for a moment, she went over to Daniel and handed the suit to him. Daniel took the suit and looked over it. He was beginning to realise where he was now. He looked at the uniform and in particular the logo on the front. It matched the description of the FoxFang uniform he read about in the book he took out from the library. He lowered the uniform and looked at his mother.

"So you did know the FoxFang. Who was he?" Daniel asked. Both Jessica and Zach did a double take at each other, surprised that Daniel hadn't put everything together yet. Jessica knelt down, put a hand on Daniel's shoulder and then took hold of the outfit lightly.

"Daniel, the FoxFang that appeared about 20 years ago, was me." Jessica replied.

* * *

The revelation that Jessica had just made had hit Daniel right in the head like an anvil would hit Plucky Duck. He did not believe that the Fox even existed until now. Now he was told that not only was the Fox real, but his own mother was the secret hero. He was holding onto the very uniform that his mother wore 20 years ago. He was struck mute while the revelation sank in. In the meantime, Jessica went over to Zach and put a hand on his shoulder. They both looked at Daniel, who just held the uniform and stared into space with an expression that rivalled the face that Zach showed when Jessica showed him that she was FoxFang. Zach was being reminded of that moment as he watched. That moment in time challenged his way of thinking, just like Daniel's way of thinking was being challenged. Zach watched the scene while putting an arm around Jessica; waiting to see what Daniel would do next. In the meantime, he pushed a few buttons on the computer. This opened the door to the training area and activated the training equipment. They would be needed in order to train up Daniel in the necessary arts of the Fox. Daniel finally came out of hi period of shock and looked over at his parents.

"You were involved in fighting against crime when you were my age?" Daniel asked. Both Jessica and Zach nodded. "What was your motivation?" Jessica's heart sank. It was a very painful memory for her, even though it happened over 20 years ago. She felt Zach rub her back in a reassuring manner. She looked over at Zach and nodded before going over to Daniel and kneeling next to him.

"Just over 20 years ago, once the summer term had finished at the looniversity, I was at home while my parents went to the store to do the weekly shopping. What I didn't know was that when they were at the store, they were attacked by gangsters." Jessica began. Zach joined in the story, since he was also involved. Even so, it was a very painful memory, since he was nearly killed.

"I was there with Daffy and Melissa at the time. We tried to protect them only to get seriously hurt. In fact, I was nearly killed. In the end, the gangsters escaped, taking your mother's parents hostage. They left a ransom note at the scene." Zach continued, shuddering over the painful memory. "It was the late Tweety and his wife Aaooga that was first on the scene. They called the emergency services and were able to determine that we were still alive. Aaooga was also able to give some basic first aid, which probably saved my life. I was taken to the hospital with Daffy and Melissa while Tweety and Aaooga went to Jessica." Zach finished his part of the story and let Jessica continue.

"When the two canaries told me the bad news, I couldn't believe it. I remember having a temper fit in my room. That was when I came across the very suit that you hold in your hands." Daniel looked down at the suit as his mother spoke. He held it close to his body and looked up at Jessica. "With the suit, I found the equipment that the original FoxFang used…" Daniel interrupted Jessica's story with a question.

"You mean the FoxFang that is mentioned in the book I took out of the library?" Jessica nodded in response.

"The very same one. His spirit also visited me that very day. He was Brett Bunny, one of our ancestors. He was my tutor in my training. He taught me how to use the basic equipment." Jessica took out a Fangmerang, a Fang Dart and the grappling gun from the suit as she said this. "Once I had mastered using those, I ended up sending Rocky and Mugsy, two of my father's old enemies, to prison before I went to the place where my parents were captured. I freed them without them finding out who I was, though they would eventually find out. That was my first major mission as FoxFang. After that, I stayed as the FoxFang until I grew too big to wear the outfit…" Daniel finally nailed on her motive and added the final line to the story.

"To prevent people going through what you went through, right?" Jessica nodded in response.

"Jessica recruited me after I showed some courage against an armed mugger. Looking back, I suppose I wanted revenge against the people who nearly killed me. While we were young, we were never able to pass on the flame." Zach said. Jessica then put a hand on Daniel's shoulder.

"Daniel, we both feel that you are ready to accept the flame. It's time we passed the FoxFang Flame on… to you." Jessica added, looking into Daniel's eyes. She could see a glow in his eyes, telling him that he was willing to accept the responsibility. It also gave him a chance to get revenge against Garry's killers.

"So, when does training begin?" Daniel asked. Jessica and Zach looked at their son and gave him a smile before Zach put a hand on his shoulder.

"Son, training will begin right now." Zach said.

(A/N: Expect more frequent updates now. I've finished college so I can concentrate on my Fanfiction.)


	10. Training sessions

**Training sessions**

Jessica had booted up the training arenas after hearing her sons' reply. In truth, she expected no less from her own son. She saw the same determination that was in her several years ago. She paused in remembrance of the first time most of the equipment in the training area had been used. That battle against Swackhammer proved to be one of her most terrifying ordeals. During the fight, she acted tough and fearless on the outside but was screaming on the inside. The same was true when the training equipment was being used for the first time. She was highly frightened of that battle against some of the most fearsome people known at the time. Although the battle was victorious, it entered her memory as a terrifying ordeal. Briefly shuddering at the memory, she turned around to look at Daniel. He was standing right next to her looking at all of the training equipment. It was unlike anything he had seen before. Although he did fairly well in gym, he was daunted by what trials might await him. There were now 10 arenas, each one designed to test specific skills. There were also 5 difficulty levels for each training field. They were currently set to very high, the highest level in the system. Jessica quickly changed them to very easy, the lowest level in the system. Daniel instinctively walked over to the first training stage; the Fang dart target range. Jessica walked next to him and put a hand on his shoulder, pausing to look at the range. Back in her old days, she and Zach would use it every day, as well as every other training stage available. This was always the first one that they would go to. It was a test of accuracy more than anything. It consisted of a bulls-eye that would change in size depending on the difficulty level. On the front of the barrier was a tray full of Fang darts, objects that Daniel didn't recognise at first glance. He picked one of them up in his hand and felt it through his fingers.

"Careful, the tips are sharp." Jessica warned. Daniel looked at the tip of the Fang dart. Even though it had been left in storage for all this time, the tip was as sharp as it ever was. Jessica picked up another from the tray and held it gently. Merely holding it brought back many memories. Some good memories but some were bad memories. The Fang darts had helped her and Zach win some decisive battles in her time. They were also key to some make or break moments. Her thoughts were interrupted when Daniel tugged her arm to get her attention.

"Mum, these are darts aren't they?" Jessica looked down at Daniel, smiled and nodded.

"They're called Fang Darts. There main use is to disarm your enemies. They return to you once you've thrown them." Jessica explained. Daniel looked at the end and saw the teleportation disc that returned the Fang dart to the thrower after it had been thrown. Jessica quietly hit a switch that began the training session. This brought up a large target with an averaged sized bulls-eye.

"Ok Daniel, let's see how many bulls-eyes you can get with 10 darts. I've heard good things about you from your dodge ball sessions, so you should be fairly good at this." Daniel simply nosed and threw the dart he was holding. He narrowly missed the bulls-eye. The dart disappeared from the target and returned to the tray where it had been taken from. Taking up another dart, Daniel threw again, and ended up hitting the spot where the first dart had hit. Daniel adjusted his aim a little and threw a third dart, hitting the bulls-eye. He then took up the remaining seven Fag darts and threw them in succession, getting the bulls-eye with each one. Jessica gave a clap of applause after the 10th dart had been thrown, though Daniel looked a little disappointed with his performance.

"Daniel, you look disappointed. You did well for your first time." Jessica said.

"I was trying to get a perfect 10." Daniel replied. Jessica patted him on the shoulder.

"You'll get better. You'll eventually be able to score a perfect 10 on the highest difficulty level. The first time you do that, you will feel great." Daniel smiled at Jessica's little talk before a question came to his mind.

"What is the hardest level on this training stage?" Jessica adjusted a switch in response. The larger board was removed and replaced with a board about the size of a mini disc. Daniel went wide-eyed at the sight of such a small target. Then, for old time's sake, Jessica took a Fang dart and threw it at the target, scoring a perfect bulls-eye.

"Heh, I've still got it." Daniel was a little surprised as to how easily Jessica hit the tiny target, but he eventually realised that she had a great deal more experience then he did. That didn't stop him from feeling a little humiliated though.

"Oh mum, you've shown me up." Jessica simply laughed, as did Daniel after a moment. When Jessica stopped, she put a hand on Daniel's shoulder.

"Daniel, this training will probably take a few days to master the basics. Once you've mastered the basics, you can go after Garry's killers, but not before. I'm not trying to put you off. But I have to warn you that this business is very dangerous. Both I and your father have come close to death while fighting." Jessica paused in the memories that she personally had come close to death, and the moments that she feared that Zach was going to die. They had both pulled through each occasion though, but they all left a small mental scar on her. Besides, she was interrupted by a question from Daniel.

"What basics do I have to cover yet?" Jessica snapped back to reality and looked at her son, but her question was answered by Zach, who was watching the training.

"Daniel, you need to learn how to use all of the vital equipment, you need to learn proper fighting techniques and master the art of stealth." Daniel looked up at his father in response to what Zach said.

"There's an art to fighting?" Zach put a hand around Jessica before answering the question.

"Throwing wild punches may handle some foes, but against strong opponents', you will need to use different techniques and learn how to increase the power of your own attacks. I believe you learn a little about this sort of thing in the super heroics class." Daniel gave the smallest of nods in response.

"We mostly cover using tools and costumes, but we do cover fighting as well." Zach nodded in response to Daniel's reply before continuing.

"So you should have a basic idea of how to fight. However, the level we require is a much higher level than the Looniversity teaches. It will be tough but we do have the training facilities to get you through it." Daniel took hold of another Fang Dart and gripped it tight. He was silently angry about the delay. He wanted to be able to go after Garry's killers now, but that was in no way possible. He threw the Fang Dart he had at the Target that was up in frustration, hitting the edge of the tiny target. Jessica was quick to put a hand on Daniel's shoulder to calm him down.

"Daniel, we'll have one more session of training before we call it a night for now. Don't worry; training tomorrow will get more intense." Jessica said. All Daniel could do was look up and smile, but the smile very quickly turned into a face of determination.

"As long as I can bring Garry's killers to justice soon." Daniel replied.

* * *

The next day rolled in quickly, though Daniel had still kept his training in mind. After using the Fang Darts, he had practice with the Fangmerangs. He could now use two of the basic weapons, but he secretly wanted to master them like his parents had. He couldn't wait for the evenings now, since it meant more training. However, he did realise that he still had a lot to learn and that everything was top secret. It was currently lunchtime and he was in the cafeteria having his lunch. There were several other students in the cafeteria at the same time. At the moment, Daniel was on his own, but saw that Arnold, Laura and Brian were all in the queue. Seeing Arnold made him nervous. If anyone could figure out what was going on, it was Arnold. He was hoping that Arnold wouldn't deliberately pry his mind for no reason, not that Arnold would do that. In a sense, Daniel was protected by the fact that Arnold would never use his power without a good reason. How much of that behaviour was down to being taught by his own mother he was uncertain. Daniel very quickly put the thought to the back of his mind and began munching on the carrot sandwich he had gotten for lunch. Soon after though, he was joined by Laura, Brian and Arnold. Laura had a vegetable salad, Arnold had tuna rolls and Brian had Soya beef burgers. Brian was the first to notice that Daniel was much less depressed than he was the previous day. This was particularly easy, since Daniel had looked up at them the moment they sat down. The previous day, all that could be seen in Daniel's face was depression, but today he seemed to be back to his old self. This was the first time they'd seen him today, since they had all been in different classes the entire morning.

"Hi there Daniel. I see that you're no longer locked up in slump house." Brian greeted, earning a playful shove from the rabbit.

"I can't spend the rest of my life locked up there. I just kept on telling myself that Garry's suicide wasn't my fault." Daniel replied, no even daring to tell the truth about Garry's death. It was still being classified as a suicide by the authorities; only he and his family knew that wasn't the case.

"I'll bet. Psychological convincement is an effective mental healing tactic, as is hypnotherapy." Arnold said, half jokingly. He earned himself a playful shove from Daniel as well.

"Arnold, I don't need to go on hypnotherapy courses to heal my own mind. I prefer mental persuasion by myself." Arnold simply chuckled at the comment.

"Well, it's good to see you back to your old self Daniel. Now you can focus on writing that report."

"Daniel, do you know who the other school competing is?" Laura asked. Secretly, Daniel knew, but he hadn't been told by his parents. He only knew from the incident on the first night. He had already prepared a response to this question should it be asked, avoiding his inability to make quick decisions. He chose to not say the truth and shook his head.

"Mum hasn't named the other school involved. I'm not sure she even knows herself." Daniel said. Everyone else nodded in response.

"It could be the rivals of the school when my parents were studying here." Laura suggested.

"Which school was that?" Brian asked.

"It was called Perfecto prep. They used to beat the Looniversity all of the time until my dad became a student. When he joined, the Perfecto's gained a huge loosing streak that lasted until he left."

"Longer Laura. It kept on happening when my parents were at the Looniversity, and that wasn't too long after yours left." Daniel added. Arnold took the cue and continued onto the story.

"If they kept on constantly loosing to us for that long, it's possible that, even now, they are plotting some hideous, terrible, despicable, awful, gruesome, wicked, evil, terrifying, vile, loathsome and downright mean REVENGE!" At the last word, there was a flash of lightning, a boom of thunder and some brief Frankenstein-like music. This all came courtesy of Brian's tape player and a flashlight he had in his hand. All he did was chuckle nervously when he realised that everybody in the cafeteria was giving him a death glare.

"You know, you really need to pick your moments for using that thing." Arnold spoke coldly towards Brian. Brian just shrugged in response to the comment.

"Come on guys, it added good effect to the moment. The people reading this…" Brian was interrupted when Daniel rushed over to him.

"I think you're straying a little close to the fourth wall Brian." Daniel said.

"And you've just crossed it." Laura commented, causing everybody but Daniel to laugh.

"Drat. Mother warned me about not crossing the fourth wall." Daniel thought to himself.


	11. Deadly discovery

(A/N: Italic writing is a letter in this chapter)

**Deadly discovery**

It was getting nearer the end of the day, and the rest of the day had been more or less uneventful. However, there was still the research to be done later that evening, but it was not the end of the day yet. Daniel had a free period before the day officially finished, but Laura, Arnold and Brian still had one more lesson. Daniel was, at the moment, sitting in his mother's office. She was teaching her final class so he couldn't discuss anything with her. He did have a book with him that he could read though; it was a book on the Looniversity's history. Daniel was reading it so he could hopefully find out some information he hadn't already found out. However, his mind was constantly drifting off in another direction. He was constantly thinking about the events that had happened the previous night. Although a life-defining moment, the enormity of everything hadn't yet sunk in fully. He had been able to keep it a secret from his friends and saw no evidence that Arnold had figured it out yet. Even though he felt a little better about the situation, he was still feeling guilty about what had happened on Monday night. He still felt that there was something he could've done to stop the culprits there and then, but at that particular moment, his nerve had failed him. But he now realised that he could make up for his mistake by bringing the killers to justice. So far, he hadn't seen any evidence that the students had realised the truth about what had happened. He tried to get back to reading and erase these thoughts temporarily, but it didn't last long. He found himself just staring up into the sky and then around the room in remembrance of what had been happening. He began to have horrible visions of the incident on Monday in his head. He shut his eyes out of instinct, but that only made the visions even clearer. He could see the exact moment when he came across the discovery and the discussion between the two killers. He got as far as seeing the killers leave in his head when he was woken up by a loud pop. The pop came as such a shock to Daniel he ended up leaping into the air and grabbing the light on the ceiling. When he was up there, he looked down at who had made the pop. It was Gogo Dodo, with a pin in one hand and a burst balloon in the other.

"Hiya Daniel old boy." Gogo greeted, only to receive a death glare from the young rabbit.

"Gogo, don't do that! You nearly frightened me out of my skin!" Daniel spoke in a slightly higher pitched voice than normal.

"If you nearly jumped out of your skin, we'll need to fix up any holes in your head." Gogo then proceeded to jump on top of Daniel's head, changed into a doctor's garb and pull out a stitching pin. "I'll need to sow up any holes. I don't have any anaesthetic so you may feel a little pain." Before Gogo could begin though, Daniel pulled him off his head and threw the dodo to the floor, creating a green/blue/red puddle where Gogo landed and turned into a watery mess.

"Gogo, I'm not in the mood for your comedy right now. Can you just leave me alone." Daniel snapped. Gogo reformed and gave Daniel a vacant look.

"What's eating you? Besides the fleas" At Gogo's question, Daniel shook his head and dislodged a large flea, which he promptly flattened with a handy mallet. Daniel then gave a vacant look at Gogo dodo. The result was that both characters stared at each other for what felt like an hour, even though it was only 10 minutes, before Daniel snapped out of it, giving Gogo dodo another slap to snap him out of it as well.

"I'd rather not talk about it." Daniel said, getting a rather pitiful stare from the dodo.

"Whatever bub. By the way, if you get the chance, give these to your mother." Gogo dodo tossed Daniel some thing from a body pocket. He threw several sheets of paper, all of them folded up and with a piece of string tied around them to hide the contents. "They're from Garry's locker. I found them by accident. Maybe she should give some kind of warning." Gogo was clearly oblivious to the fact that Garry was already dead, but Daniel took them away and played along.

"Err, sure. I'll tell her. Thanks Gogo." Daniel gave a polite wave as Gogo passed out of the room by squeezing his way through the keyhole. Daniel had a look at the pieces of paper that were now in his hands. The only way to see what was written on them was to untie the strings but he risked getting into trouble if he did that. For the moment, he put them on his mother's desk and sat back down again. He quickly glanced back up at the pieces of paper he had just put on the desk. Slowly but surely, his curiosity was developing. He began to toy with the idea that the pieces of paper might contain a vital clue, but they may also contain private information that he would be better off not knowing. He hesitantly grabbed the book he was reading before and tried to read it again, but he found himself looking at the pieces of paper again. Something was drawing him to them, slowly but surely, like a moth drivel towards a flame. He tried to ignore the temptation, or at least resist it long enough for his mother to arrive and have a look at the papers, and tried to get back to reading his book. However, he still found himself looking over at the papers. He quickly glanced up at the clock in the room. "Sigh, still another five minutes until lessons end. I sure hope my willpower lasts that long." Daniel thought to himself, trying desperately to ignore the pieces of paper on the desk. Unfortunately though, with only a few more moments to spare, he gave in to temptation. He put the book down and reached for one of the pieces of paper. He was just about to grab it when…

"Cuckoo, cuckoo, whoever's last to leave is totally CUCKOO!" Gogo's alarm signalled the end of the day. He did it so loudly that it made Daniel leap up to the ceiling and grab hold of the light again. The recent events had seemed to make him a little more jumpy than normal. Daniel let himself back down onto the ground and went back down to the chair, putting a hand on his chest.

"That dodo, he's been giving me a real scare today." Daniel mumbled.

"What's this about Gogo dodo?" A voice from the office door asked. Daniel turned around to see who it was, only to see Jessica Daniel gave a small sigh and looked at his mother.

"I'll explain when we get home. But on the subject of Gogo Dodo, he asked me to give you these." Daniel gave Jessica the pieces of paper Gogo had given him before. Jessica took the pieces of paper, undid the string tying one of them and read the note. What she saw brought on a sweat and filled her head with both questions and answers at the same time. Gogo had just given them a valuable clue into Garry's murder case, and it was a rather horrifying clue at that. Her mind quickly entered minor turmoil as she quickly tried to put a few facts and a new clue together.

"Mum, what s it?" Daniel asked suddenly, snapping Jessica out of her thought process. She gave a saddened but serious look at her son.

"Daniel, I'm not sure you should see this, but have a read of this." Jessica replied, handing the note. Upon reading the note, Daniel's heart sank and he felt a haunting in his mind. He became saddened and shocked at the same time as he read the note.

* * *

_Garry Greyhound…_

_You don't know us, but we know you._

_We're watching your every move._

_We know what you're doing._

_We know who you're seeing._

_You're days are numbered._

_The number decreases every time you sleep._

_Wherever you'll be, so will we._

_Whatever you say, we will hear._

_Whatever you see, we shall see._

_Soon, your time will come._

_And if you try to tell anyone._

_Your small number will shrink even smaller._

_Your time is near._

_And there is nothing you can do about it._

_Say your goodbyes._

_Say your prayers_

_Draw your curtains._

_The next tine you sleep._

* * *

To make the letter even more horrible, it appeared to be written in blood. Also, at the bottom of the letter was a caricature picture of Garry, with a knife sticking through his heart. The paper also had a single hair stuck at the bottom, almost as if it was a signature. The letter was also dated; the day when Jessica announced the contest and the voting for the students began, and the day Garry's bout of depression had begun. While Daniel had a look at the current letter, Jessica, nervously and a little scared, opened another letter and had a look at it. /It was almost identical, albeit worded differently. The handwriting matched and there was also a piece of hair on the bottom. It was dated the day after the first one. Jessica rolled up the note again and put it on the table, while Daniel put his on the table face down. Neither of them dared to speak at all. They didn't know what to think about the most recent and horrific development. This was also something Jessica hadn't come across before. At that moment, she was wishing that Zach was there at that moment in time, since he was better at thinking problems through than she was. All she could do was show Zach the letters later, but for now she still dared not speak. They were so unaware of the surroundings they didn't even notice or hear Zach come into the room. Zach couldn't really understand the unusual silence that he was confronted with. His thoughts turned to concern hen he noticed Jessica and Daniel's facial expressions. They were making no effort to hide the shock of what they had found out. He began to wonder if something terrible had happened while he was not present. In order to find out, he went over to Jessica and lightly tapped her shoulder. She nearly leapt out of her skin but took a deep breath when she saw who it was. Jessica's sudden cry made Daniel look as well.

"Oh Zach, I didn't see you come in." Was all Jessica could say.

"I noticed that. Anyway, what's wrong with you two? You looked disturbed about something." Zach asked. At first, Jessica didn't reply, since she was suddenly hit with a wave of sad emotion from remembering the discovery her and Daniel had made. The lack of a reply made Zach worry again, but he chose not to say anything. He instead gambled on the fact that the cause of the trouble was the pieces of paper on the table. Nervously, he took the one that Daniel had been reading and read it himself. When he read it, he immediately understood what was wrong with Jessica and Daniel. It would be very hard not to be affected by such a discovery. After reading the note completely, Zach put the note down on the table, a little shocked by what he has read.

"That's why Garry was filled with depression; death threats." Was the most that Zach could say.


	12. More Training

**More Training**

It was now early evening, and time for some more training in the cave. The earlier discovery not only sent a wave of horror into Jessica, Zach and Daniel, it motivated Daniel to training harder. It was now a case of mental torture as well as murder. Zach was giving Daniel some training while Jessica had turned detective. She was busy analysing the letters under a high powered microscope, searching for any clues as to who wrote the letter. Zach had activated a training robot, something that had been built a very long time ago by the late Egghead Jr. The training robot was about 20ft tall. It was designed to look like a giant bipedal fox. On the front, back and tail of the robot were five red targets, making a total of fifteen targets. The aim of the training exercise was to punch all of the targets. When each one was hit, it would deactivate. When all fifteen had been deactivated, the robot itself would be deactivated as well. The robot did move fairly quickly, but its speed could be adjusted if necessary. For the moment, Zach had turned it down to its lowest setting, since he was fairly certain that Daniel would be unable to handle the fastest setting. Daniel was looking in absolute awe at the robot that was in front of him. He hadn't seen any robot that big before. Truth be told, he was rather intimidated at the sight. He had no idea that he would be training against something so formidable looking so early on in his training. He was doing his best to not show hid nervousness, even going to the extent of looking away from the robot. His mind began to turn to other things when he did that. In particular, the project he was working on for the looniversity. It was nearly finished and ready to hand in. Laura had been a great help with putting the project together. They had everything they needed and were now in the stages of writing up the findings. The report had been split into sections, with Daniel and Laura each doing different sections. Daniel had already done half of his sections and only had another few more to do. He did wonder how well Laura was doing. Thinking about this moved him to another thought; Arnold. He was a little worried that Arnold might figure out what he was up to at night. If anyone could, it was Arnold, and the duck had been known to be a little cheeky about using his powers, despite his mother telling him not to. He had intended to mention it to his mother at some point, but it kept on slipping out of his mind. He was suddenly snapped out of it though, but that was because Zach had tapped him on the head. When Daniel looked up at his father, he could see a small smile on Zach's face.

"Off in daydream land Danny?" Zach asked, half-jokingly. All Daniel could do was turn his head away rather sheepishly.

"I was just thinking about a couple of things." Daniel mutter3ed quietly. Zach put a hand on Daniel's shoulder.

"I don't blame you. You have a lot on your shoulders right now. Mind you, I've been in that situation before." Zach paused in reminiscence of his first big mission, ironically almost immediately after he had completed his induction training. "The best example I can think off was on my very first mission." Daniel's ears pricked up at that mention.

"Was your first mission a really big one then?" Zach gave a bit of a chuckle and sat down next to Daniel.

"Almost immediately after I had completed my basic training, we were at the opening ceremony of the ACME superstore. Your grandparents had the honor of opening the store, only for it to be attacked on the very same day." Daniel's face showed that he didn't seem very impressed at first.

"A criminal gang doesn't seem like much of a danger to you now." Zach half-nodded in response.

"Now a gang wouldn't pose much trouble, but back then, it was actually quite nerve-wracking. Especially when we met the leader. She as a clown, literally." Zach's response from Daniel was a frown.

"A clown? That doesn't seen very scary." Now it was Zach's turn to frown.

"She was dangerous. She was an expert in biochemistry and microbiology. She created several deadly chemicals that we had to guard against. But that was only the start of it. She had stolen the equipment necessary to build a laser satellite capable of destroying the city. We had to stop her from launching it." Daniel's frown quickly disappeared.

"What eventually became of this clown?" Daniel's question was met with a hesitant look from Zach. He had been quietly hoping that Daniel wouldn't ask such a question; it brought badck many, very painful memories. Daniel noticed the look and began to regret asking such a question, but before he could speak, Zach spoke.

"Maybe I'll tell you another time. But let's be honest, I think current troubles are more important than past troubles aren't they?" Daniel gave a nod in response, even though it looked rather grim. Daniel was curious about the story but he didn't want to give his father a painful memory. Daniel now looked up at the robot, now ready for action. However, upon looking at the robot, the past fears of fighting against something so tough so early resurfaced.

"Dad, isn't this a bit extreme for a novice crime fighter like me?" Daniel asked. Zach shook his head.

"That robot has difficulty settings. Right now, it's at the lowest. It will move fairly slowly and you only have to punch out five lights to deactivate it. And to give you even more help…" Zach gave Daniel some Fan darts and some Fangmerangs to help him in the training. "You can use either your own body or the equipment to hit the targets. Since you're only a beginner, only the five targets on the front will light up. Hit them once to turn them off. Once they've all been turned off, the robot will deactivate." Daniel's fears were eased by the explanation. He now realised that his own father would not put him up to something that he had no chance of doing. He took a deep breath and approached the robot.

"So, simple as that eh? Better get the medi-area on stand-by." Daniel spoke, half-jokingly. He was still a little nervous but vowed the give it everything he had. Zach gave a nod and turned the robot on by remote.

* * *

With a few bleeps and some judders, the giant robot came to life. The five targets on the chest lit up and it began to move. Zach moved back a little, to give Daniel some room. He was also prepared to shut down the robot by remote, should something go horribly wrong. Daniel waited for the robot to make a move. The move the robot made was an attempted punch to the floor. Daniel was easily nimble enough to leap out of the way of the punch, but soon came up to a roadblock. He couldn't jump high enough from the ground to reach the targets. He could attack from a distance, but figured that it would be more fun to try and find another way around the roadblock. He firstly threw a fangmerang at the robot, a sort of test to see if it would block. The robot blocked the fangmerang and knocked it away, before attempting another punch. Daniel leapt back to avoid the blow but also saw an opening. The robot had to bend down low to throw a low punch… It was an opening he could take advantage of. He began what seemed like a foolhardy rush at the robot. The robot aimed a low punch again. Daniel was much quicker though, and got close before the punch hit. Now he could jump up to the targets, since the robot was bending down. He leapt up with all his dexterity and kicked one of the targets, turning it off successfully. However, he landed within range of another low punch, which sent him a few feet away from the robot. Though a little hurt, Daniel came back again. Now he was searching for a different tactic, since he didn't thing the same move would work twice. As a bit of a shot in the dark, he threw two fang darts, but threw one slightly later than the second one. The robot blocked the first one, but the second one hit another of the targets and turned it off. Zach did a very brief victory pose before preparing for battle again. The robot then did an unexpected move. It leapt up into the air and landed on the same spot. The result was a mild tremor that knocked Daniel off his feet. Daniel quickly regained his feet, just in time to evade a sweeping kick from the robot. Daniel now needed to decide on a third tactic. He then thought of an idea; a risky move but it may just work. He waited and evaded until the robot leapt into the air for its tremor attack again. Just before the robot landed, Daniel leapt into the air, avoiding the tremor. He landed on the ground and jumped again to evade the sweeping kick. This time, he landed on the robot's foot and used it as a ledge to jump up and punch a third target. Daniel now only needed to hit two more to deactivate the robot. He backed away to avoid a retaliatory move from the robot and waited to see what it would do next. It appeared to be taking up a defensive stance now, paying no attention to offence and switching to defence. This put Daniel in a bit of a bind. None of his previous tactics were going to work now. Zach saw that Daniel had seemed to come up to a stump and decided to give some advice. 

"Daniel, sometimes you have to think outside the box to defeat a defensive enemy." Zach instructed, forcing Daniel to stop and have a bit of a think.

"Think outside of the box…" Daniel thought to himself while looking around. He then noticed something high above the robot, a magnet hanging from the ceiling. The magnet was used to lift the vehicles to higher ground whenever maintenance was required, but maybe it could be used to get around the defence. Daniel saw the controls for the magnet; but they were a fair distance away. Daniel immediately had an idea. He began to throw Fangmerangs to activate the controlled from a distance. He hit the switch that lowered the magnet and the switch that reversed the polarity, though it was much more luck than judgement. The magnetic field forced the robot to fall to the ground, belly up. This gave Daniel the perfect opportunity to attack the last two targets and deactivate the robot. As soon as the robot was deactivated, Zach went over to the magnet controls and reset them to what they were before Daniel had done his trick.

"Daniel, when I went up against that robot in training, that was a tactic I never thought of using." Zach complimented. Daniel gave a sheepish smile.

"You did tell me to think outside of the box Dad, and that was the best I could think off at the time." Was Daniel's comeback. Zach gave a chuckle.

"I suppose, but you also learned something else in that little sparring match; use the environment to your advantage. If you can do something to turn the tide in your favour, it can be a wise move. For example, you could activate a crane to lift up an escape vehicle." Zach explained. Daniel nodded in response, but then frowned.

"I suppose you can't really train me for that, since each environment is different." Zach put a hand on Daniel's shoulder.

"We can give you general advice, but that's all when it comes to using the environment." Daniel gave a half-smile at Zach's response. For the moment, he was happy that he had been able to defeat the robot. At the same time though, he knew that the next time he would battle the robot, the difficulty would be cranked up a bit. Zach then began to walk in the direction where Jessica was working. "Daniel, let's go and see your mother and see what she's found out."


	13. Revisiting the past

(A/N: another dream sequence in this chapter. It will be in _Italics_)

**Revisiting the past**

After Daniel's training with the robot had finished, he and Zach went back to Jessica. While Daniel was training, she had been carefully studying the letters found in Garry's locker for any evidence. For this, she had been examining the letters in fine detail under a powerful microscope. She was fairly engrossed in her examination, so she didn't realize that Daniel and Zach were done for the moment. Daniel decided not to say anything, so as not to disturb her during her work. He knew all too well how annoying it was to be disturbed when doing something very important. He had been disturbed while doing important work during the lunch break many times, mostly by Gogo Dodo However, Gogo would do this to everyone in the Looniversity at some point, so Daniel wasn't so bitter about it. It was just a habit that Gogo had; though it was annoying. Zach didn't disturb Jessica either, but he still had a little peek over her shoulder. If Jessica knew he was there, she didn't let on and just continued. Daniel chose to sit in the floor and have a look around. He chose to sit right next to the statue of Egghead Jr. Daniel glanced over at the statue of the chicken. Though he didn't know the full story, he knew enough to understand how vital the chicken had been to the team. Practically everything in the cave had been built by him. While looking at the statue, Daniel began to wish he could've met Egghead Jr. in real life, rather than just see a statue of him. He was interrupted when he heard his parents talking. He looked up and saw Jessica gently holding Zach's arm, which had reached over to the microscope Jessica was using.

"Zachy, you know you're no allowed to touch my stuff without permission." Jessica teased with a laugh. Even in such situations as this, neither of the two could resist a little tease. Zach just gave a laugh.

"Jessibell, I'm allowed to be curious aren't I?" Zach teased back. The tease was interrupted by Daniel, clearly disgusted by the display of romantic teasing.

"Mum, Dad, not in my presence, please." Was the disgusted moan from Daniel. Daniel has also turned his head away from the scene, so he didn't have to look. Both Jessica and Zach just laughed.

"Daniel, I can guarantee you that you'll be doing this with someone one day." Zach spoke. This only made Daniel pout a little.

"I don't have a special girl, and I don't want one." Was Daniel's reply. Zach decided to drop it, since he had made it clear before that he didn't see the point in romance. He instead turned to Jessica and waited for what she would say. Thinking wisely, she changed the subject of discussion.

"Daniel, how did the training go?" was Jessica's question to her son. This question got Daniel's attention, and he turned to face her.

"It was tough. That robot you have is a great machine." Jessica gave a smile before looking, somewhat, dreamily at the statue of Egghead Jr.

"That robot was built by Egghead Jr. He built a lot of this base. We did help out some of the time, but he did most of the device building and also the forensic work." The word forensic tickled Daniel's interest. He hadn't heard the word before and had no idea what it meant. Jessica could tell that Daniel didn't know what the word meant by the puzzled look on his face, and Daniel didn't even need to ask for an explanation. "Forensics is basically examining evidence in close detail using microscopes. By looking through microscopes, you can see clues that are normally to o small for our vision to detect."

"What sort of clues?" Daniel asked.

"Clues such as fur, paint, blood stains, fibres and even searching for the groves found on bullets of the olden day pistols and rifles." Zach said. Daniel's eyes lit up at the explanation.

"Forensic investigating sounds awesome." Daniel's excitement was easy to see, and both his parents gave a smile.

"The outfit does have a special lens that allows you to see such clues. I'm not entirely sure how it works though. I'll say this, we did have to use that quite a bit, especially if the criminal had left the scene before we arrived. The lenses would highlight vital clues that we could take back for Egghead Jr. to examine. Back then, we didn't know enough to do the examining ourselves." Zach explained. Daniel gained a bit of a puzzled look at the revelation.

"Then, how come you can do that sort of stuff now?" Daniel asked.

"On his death bed, Egghead Jr. gave us some instructions on how to use the equipment and left us a book on learning to use microscopes and the like. He also left us books on all the knowledge he had used to help us. We had to teach ourselves with those references, but it did seem like he was teaching us the whole time." Jessica looked dreamily at the statue again as she spoke. She began to remember all the times they had spent with the chicken, from his first recruitment to the major roles he played for the team all the way up to his untimely death due to paralysis. They had had many good times together in the past, and both rabbits had many fond memories of the chicken. Jessica was snapped out of the memories when Daniel asked her a question.

"Did you find anything on the letters?" Was the question from Daniel. Jessica snapped back to reality and looked at the microscope.

"The only thing I found was a black fibre. Whoever wrote the letters was wearing gloves as a precaution. This was an organised plot." Jessica finally said.

"Is Perfecto Prep really this organised?" Zach asked. The question came from past experience. When he and Jessica were at the Looniversity, there weren't many Perfecto Prep stunts, and even the ones that came up were very poorly organised. Jessica rubbed her chin in thought.

"We'd have a better idea if we knew what Perfecto Prep was like while Buster and Babs were at the Looniversity…" Jessica was cut off by a suggestion from Daniel.

"That's easy. You can just ask Buster and Babs for details." Both Jessica and Zach gave a thoughtful look at Daniel.

"A logical idea, but it isn't that simple. Buster is an intelligent man and might question the sudden interest in Perfecto Prep. That said though, there are others that we can safely ask…" Zach said. Jessica immediately cottoned on to the idea that Zach had.

"I'll speak to them tomorrow. For now I need to do a bit more analysis to see if I can find anything else." Jessica said. Daniel let out a loud yawn almost immediately after, getting a glance from both of his parents. "And judging by the size of that yawn, you'd best be heading for bed Daniel. We'll do some more training tomorrow." Jessica added.

* * *

_Jessica was standing in a graveyard. She was alone during a cold, windy night. The wind blew a few dead leaves past her feet. In her arms was a bouquet of flowers. In front of her, a tiny, moss covered grave. Jessica knelt down and used her hand to brush away the moss. She could now read the inscription on the grave._

'_In loving memory of Brett Bunny'. The inscription read. She was standing at the grave of Brett Bunny, the original FoxFang , and her ghostly mentor when she first found the suit. Despite this, she had never paid proper respect to the long dead hero, until now. She laid the flowers at the base of the gravestone. Another cold gust of wind blew against her face, blowing her hair and ears around. There was a faint whistle in the wind, almost as if the wind was crying. After placing the flowers, Jessica stood up and performed a salute. She was going to turn away and leave when another gust of wind came up, this one carrying a quiet moan. She quickly spun around and looked at the grave she had just visited. The ground underneath it was cracking and opening. Jessica froze to the spot. She was both scared and curious as to what was happening right before her eyes. Slowly but surely, like an envelope being opened with care, the ground opened. Jessica peered into the resulting hole. She could see a wooden coffin in the ground, the remains of a rose on the grave. It seemed amazing that, despite hundreds of years in the ground, the coffin and the remnants of the rose still existed. Then, slowly but surely, to Jessica's amazement and horror, the coffin began to open, like a rusty door being opened for the first time in a while. Inside the coffin was a figure she knew only too well. It was the original FoxFang, garbed in the original outfit. The Fox climbed out of the hole and stood before Jessica. Then, the Fox took off the mask, revealing the ghostly form of Brett Bunny. It was almost exactly like the time she had met his ghost when she found the outfit for the first time. She could see Brett's form smile at her pleasantly, showing he was proud of her. Then, the ghostly image began to speak._

"_Jessica Diana Bunny, you are doing what I was unable to do in my lifetime." Brett spoke. Jessica, for some unknown reason, felt compelled to put a hand on Brett's should. Despite him being a ghost, she was able to touch him perfectly._

"_Brett, what was it you were unable to do in your lifetime?" Jessica asked. Brett looked down to the dusty ground._

"_Although I was able to protect the city of my time, I was unable to pass on what I had mastered to the next generation. I had but one child, and he was very sickly. He was simply unfit to fill the shoes. I prayed that he may get stronger so that I could train him, but he never did. He was very lucky to have a family at all. By the time he did, I was too unfit to pass on my skills to my grandchildren. By the time they came of age, I had passed on. I had buried the outfit in the house in the hopes that my grandchildren would someday find it, but they never did." Jessica could see a tear drop from Brett's eye. She gave him a hug to try and comfort him, enough so he could continue his story. "I continued to wait with the outfit, in the hopes that someone would find it. I waited centuries, and finally you found it. I was then able to pass on my skills to you, and now you are passing on your skills to your son." Brett looked up at Jessica and gave her cheek a small kiss. "Once you have finished training your son, I will have no more regrets. Promise me that you will help Daniel finish his training." Jessica gave Brett a reassuring hug._

"_Brett, I promise…"_

"…I promise…" Jessica suddenly said in her sleep, waking up as she did. She found herself in her own bed, with Zach sleeping next to her. The whole time, it had been a dream; a dream in which Brett had contacted her. It had been ages since she had heard her mentor's voice. She put both hands on her chest and looked into the air. "Brett, I promise to finish Daniel's training."

"Who are you taking to?" Zach asked. Jessica had inadvertently woken him up from his sleep. He was now sitting up and looking at her. She looked up at the air again.

"Brett Bunny. He contacted me in a dream." Jessica said, before turning to Zach. "Zach, I promised Brett that we'd finish Daniel's training. So let's make sure he gets trained properly." Jessica took hold of one of Zach's hands. Zach put a hand on Jessica's hand as well.

"Right, for Brett Bunny's sake."


	14. Fowl play

(A/N: Yep, I'm back after my holiday writing break. Now back to the stories I'm working on.)

**Fowl play**

It was Thursday evening, and the project Daniel and Laura were working on was nearing completion in time for the Friday deadline. The two had amassed a huge number of notes and were ready to type them all up. Laura was doing the majority of the typing, since she was a much quicker typist than Daniel was. Daniel wasn't sitting around idly twiddling his thumbs though; he was still looking through records to find even the tiniest bit of information that they had missed. Daniel had a lot of things on his mind during this time though, which wasn't surprising considering what had happened over the past week. These other thoughts had been slowing him down during the day, something that his friends had noticed. They asked him about what was happening whenever they got the chance. However, each time Daniel would give the same answer; he was concentrating on the project that was nearing completion. Laura could sympathize easily, since she was working on the project as well. It was important that it was absolutely perfect. When Brian asked, Daniel's reply only earned a nod, but Daniel wasn't sure on whether Brian believed him or not. Arnold was different. He would repeat the question constantly, only for Daniel to give the same answer. It only ended when Brian and Laura forcibly dragged Arnold away, much to Daniel's relief. These other thoughts were making it harder for him to concentrate on finding additional information. He had a book open in front of him and, although he was looking at an open page, he wasn't reading the book in particular. He glanced over at Laura, seeing her still typing away on the keyboard with a notepad next to her. She was concentrating on her typing and paid no attention to Daniel, or the clock. It was nearly time for them to go; they only had another fifteen more minutes to work on. While looking at Laura, he suddenly noticed a drop in the temperature; something that Laura didn't seem to notice. She kept on typing like nothing was going on. Daniel nearly shrugged it off as a draft until he noticed that the book he had out had turned to a different page than the one he had it on. It was on a page that showed comments from previous teachers at the school, something that neither Daniel nor Laura had seen before. Daniel looked around, but couldn't see anyone near him. Even so, he had a feeling he knew who had turned the page. Daniel looked up at the ceiling briefly, almost as if he was expecting someone to appear there.

"Thanks Garry." Daniel thought to himself, picking up the book and going over to Laura. She was so engaged in the typing that she didn't notice Daniel go up next to her for a moment. She did eventually see his reflection in the computer screen. She didn't look away from the computer screen but she spoke anyway.

"Anything worth adding?" Laura asked. Daniel put his hand on her seat and swivelled it around so he could show her the book. She didn't look impressed at first, putting on a playful pouting expression, but allowed him to show her the book anyway. She looked at the part that Daniel was showing her very briefly, before taking her notebook and writing a few things down, suddenly spinning on the chair and finishing up in a military uniform. "Well done Sergeant Daniel. Your country thanks you for your work." Laura said in a military style. Daniel gave a blank stare.

"Very funny Laura. Let's be serious, this is useful information." Daniel spoke. Laura did a spin back to normal, but then put on a cute face complete with puppy-dog eyes.

"Daniel, aren't I allowed to have fun with my friends?" Laura asked in an endearing way, making Daniel very nervous of a sudden. He would've turned around and ran away but didn't for two reasons. Firstly, they had a project to finish and communication. The second reason was somebody else spoke up.

"Am I missing something here?" The voice asked. Both Daniel and Laura recognized the voice and looked in the direction of the door. Arnold was standing there, leaning casually against the wall rubbing the tips of his fingers. Daniel gave a frown.

"Arnold, what are you doing here?" Daniel asked. Arnold gave a shrug.

"My dad needs to talk to your mum about something so he brought me to come and see how you two were doing." Arnold responded, suddenly getting a devilish look in his eyes. "I never though I'd find you two like that. I know why you spend so much time together now. Admit it; you're lovebirds." Arnold spoke. Laura blushed madly at the suggestion. Daniel began to sweat. He only saw Laura as a friend and had no interest in romance. He glanced down at Laura, who was looking away to hide her face. The scene only made Arnold laugh even more. He then began to sing a classic line. "Daniel and Laura, Sitting in a tree, K, I, S, S, I, N…" Before Arnold could finish his song, he was hit in the head by a ball that Daniel had thrown at him. The impact had knocked Arnold's head clean off his shoulders and rocking to the other side of the room. Arnold's headless body crouched on the floor and began to search blindly for the head. "Hey, stupid body, I'm over here!" Arnold's enraged head cried. Laura looked back at Daniel, a nasty glint in her eye.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Laura asked. Daniel gave a nod and stood up. Laura ran over to Arnold's head and picked it up. Arnold's headless body came closer to her. Before it could grab Arnold's head though, she threw it to Daniel. "Keep away!" Laura cried as she threw the head. Daniel caught the head and watched as Arnold's body moved closer. Before throwing the head to Laura, he looked down at Arnold's head, which was glaring at the rabbit furiously.

"Give my head back to my body." Arnold growled. Daniel gave a chuckle and threw the head over Arnold's body and back to Laura.

"Keep Away!" Daniel cried as he threw the head. When the body turned around again, Laura threw the head back to Daniel

"Keep away!" Lara cried, just before Daniel caught the head. Arnold's body turned around and Daniel threw the head back to Laura. This went on for a couple of minutes until both Daniel and Laura got bored, also noting that Arnold looked extremely angry. Daniel finally threw the head back to Arnold's body. When Arnold caught his own head, he seemed to have a bit of difficulty putting it back on. Firstly, he put his head on upside-down, then back-to-front before finally putting it on correctly. "Hey Arnold…" Laura began.

"Laura, wrong cartoon." Daniel interrupted.. Laura could only chuckle at the moment before looking back at Arnold.

"Arnold, you may be a head strong psychic, but your neck muscles need strengthening." Laura said. Both Daniel and Laura laughed while Arnold sighed.

"Very funny, let's all laugh at the duck." Arnold said.

* * *

In Jessica's office, Jessica was having a discussion with Plucky. She had sealed up the hatch where Gogo Dodo could possibly come out from so he couldn't interrupt the conversation, since it was a pretty delicate subject. Both Jessica and Plucky had a drink while they were talking. Shirley wasn't present, since she had other business to attend to. On Thursdays, she had to go and visit some elderly relatives. This normally left Plucky in charge of the house, so he would have to entertain Arnold for the evening. Jessica had asked him to come around earlier in the day, though she didn't mention why at all. Jessica took a sip of her drink before she spoke.

"Plucky, thanks for coming to see me here." Jessica began.

"Jessica, is this going to take long? There's a programme I watch with Arnold at half 7 tonight." Plucky said. Jessica gave a light chuckle.

"It won't take long Plucky." Jessica said, before turning serious. "Plucky, Batduck will need to be reactivated." Plucky looked a bit puzzled at first, but he could tell by Jessica's face that this was a serious matter. He rubbed his beak with his hand.

"Dunno Jess. I haven't worn the suit for a long time. I've outgrown it considerably now." Jessica gave a chuckle.

"I know, but whatever you do, I need you to do some snooping for me." Plucky sat upright at the mention of the word snooping. He hadn't been out snooping for a while and quite often wished that he could continue. The main problem was that Jessica and Zach took care of everything. He hadn't worn the suit for about 20 years, he only gave advice to Jessica and Zach when they needed it and took care of King. Plucky suddenly stood up and did a military salute.

"Agent Batduck, ready for duty leader!" Plucky spoke. Jessica gave a chuckle but turned serious again.

"Ok Plucky, I have a feeling that Perfecto Prep…" Jessica began but Plucky interrupted her.

"Not that school again. I thought you creamed them years ago." Jessica rolled her eyes slightly before continuing.

"As I was saying, I have a feeling that Perfecto Prep are plotting something against the Looniversity with the upcoming challenge." Plucky gave a nod.

"I know. Ever since Buster took over the school football team and kicked their buts, Perfecto's been at the Looniversity throat." Jessica nodded.

"Yes. And I think they might do something to sabotage us. I need to be certain of this though." Plucky looked intently at Jessica.

"And where do I come into this?" Jessica did a double take, amazed that Plucky hadn't figured out what she needed him to do yet. Regardless, she explained.

"I need you to sneak into Perfecto Prep and find out what they're doing." Plucky gave an intent look at Jessica before allowing her to continue. "You've been in Perfecto Prep before…"

"Don't bring up that old fiasco again. Look, I was overcome by greed and forgot about my true friends…" Jessica now had to interrupt Plucky.

"Plucky, I don't care about the past or how sorry you are for it. The incident has passed us, we don't have to think about it." Jessica paused to catch her breath and have another drink "Ok, but back to the topic, I need you to go in to Perfecto Prep and see if you can find out anything that may say that Perfecto are scheming against us." Plucky gave Jessica a bit f a stare.

"Jessica, you're the better stealth expert. You're better at gathering information…" Jessica had to interrupt Plucky again.

"And my hands are tied with paperwork for this contest. Believe me Plucky; if I had the time, I'd infiltrated Perfecto Prep ages ago. As things stand now, I'm just far too busy." Jessica said, not mentioning Daniel's training at all. She'd probably bring it up later on, but now wasn't the best time to do so. Plucky gave a sigh and stood up.

"Fine, I'll go. I've been looking for some action for some time. And I can see how much work you've got, what with Garry's death and all." Plucky said. Jessica gave a grim nod, not mentioning anything of what Daniel had told her a few nights ago. She stood up and put a hand on Plucky's shoulder.

"Thanks Plucky. You're really lifting a weight off my shoulders." Jessica paused to look at the clock. It was nearly 7. Buster and Babs would be arriving shortly to pick up Laura. "Well, suppose it's time to go." Jessica said. Plucky gave a nod and went towards the door.

"Don't worry Jessica; I'll head to Perfecto Prep as soon as I can." Plucky said. He was about to leave but stopped when Jessica put a hand on his shoulder.

"Good luck Plucky." Jessica said.


	15. Pointless

**Pointless Pointless**

The night came at Perfecto Prep. It was much spookier than it was in the past. Still based in an old castle, the trees outside had grown bigger over the years. They didn't have any leaves growing on them, and the school seemed permanently surrounded by a lightning storm, even though there was no rain. From a distance, the school appeared to be deserted. The moat around the castle, though it wasn't dry, was very low. There were moulds and fungus growing on the outer walls of the school and in the moat. Also, some of the walls were beginning to crumble. However, this was from the outside. Ever since Jessica had sneaked into Perfecto Prep a long time ago, no-one who wasn't from Perfecto Prep had ever gone inside. Rumours suggested that inside, the school was like a palace, much better looking and more styles than it had been way back when. However, these were rumours. No student of Perfecto Prep left the school unless they were going on a trip or it was school holiday, since the school was boarding only. Only they knew what Perfecto Prep was like on the inside. Even so, the stories regarding the school were numerous. However, many of the stories paint a bad picture of the school's record. They went on a loosing streak when Buster joined the looniversity and took command of the football team. Many perfecto students thought that the loosing streak would end when Buster and Babs left. However, when Jessica joined, things went downhill quickly. When she was captain of the female basketball team, Perfecto Prep was completely crushed. In every future event between the Looniversity and Perfecto Prep, the rabbit would ruin Perfecto's in some way, whether it was directly beating them or indirectly finding out about the Perfecto game tactics and ruining them. Now was no different. Perfecto Prep was still trying to defeat the looniversity in something, but Daniel, Laura, Arnold and Brian always found ways to beat them. It always followed a similar pattern; Arnold would find out what the Perfecto's were doing with telepathy, Brian would come up with a plan while Daniel and Laura would implement it, depending on who was playing. A memorable moment occurred when the Looniversity and Perfecto Prep went head to head in a game of Ice Hockey. The perfecto's tried to defeat the Looniversity by using the old trick of hiding magnets in their hockey sticks. However, a set of magnets set on the underside of the ice during the interval stuck the perfecto hockey team to the ice and completely ruining the plan. This particular place was also the place of mixed memories for Plucky. Hiding next to a tree and dress in a 'Mask of Zorro' type outfit with a blue mask and red cape, he looked on for a moment, remembering the time when he nearly betrayed the Looniversity for Perfecto Prep. A last minute plea by Lil' sneezer had turned him back to the side of the Looniversity, and coupled with some trickery by Buster and Babs, won the game for the Looniversity and ending the Perfecto's long winning streak. The thing that Plucky remembered most was Drake Danforth having his Girlfriend Margot flirt to him to keep him happy. For a moment, Plucky got lost in the memory. It was the best time he'd had at Perfecto Prep, even if it had been very brief and a bit of a false fantasy. He was tempted to try and go back to Perfecto Prep after the incident but knew that he wouldn't be able to because of the failure. He had to concentrate suddenly to erase the idle thoughts from his head. After all, Jessica had asked him to do something quite important and he did not want to be on the receiving end of one of her tantrums like Buster and Babs nearly were some time ago. He began to work his way up towards Perfecto Prep. He very quickly found himself narrating to himself what he was doing.

"Silently through the night, the mask of quakko moved towards his target building. He had a mission to accomplish and nothing was going to stop him from completing it…" Plucky narrated, coming to an abrupt halt when he walked into a tree he had failed to notice. He had been moving fairly quickly and had hit the tree with a surprising amount of force, getting his beak stuck in the tree. "…except maybe a well placed tree…" Plucky narrated, pulling himself away from the tree but leaving his beak stuck in the tree. With a quiet grumble, Plucky pulled his beak out of the tree and put it back in place. "And so, with the first trap skilfully negated, the mask of quakko continued towards his destination. This time, he would not be caught by surprise by an unexpected trap. He would make it to…" Plucky stopped narrating to himself when he could no longer feel land beneath his feet. He then made a very stupid mistake; he looked down. He had walked off the edge and was now standing on air above the moat. Of course, since he had looked down, he was just about to fall. He was, however, able to say one more thing before he fell. "Mother!" Plucky whimpered quietly before gravity took its effect and he fell into the shallow moat. Thankfully, he was a duck and wasn't bothered by the water. Standing back up, he looked at the towering wall of both the moat and Perfecto Prep in front of him. "The towering wall is a giant obstacle. In order to climb it, specialist climbing equipment is needed…" Plucky narrated again, looking up at the wall. "…but, since I don't have any. I need to use the next best thing…" Plucky took out a small box from his body pocket. The box was labelled 'Olympic high jumper'. Opening the box, Plucky took out the device, a simple needle. Plucky crouched down, shut his eyes tightly, and rammed the needle into his bottom. "YEEEOOOOWWWWWCCCCHHH!" Plucky screamed, leaping into the air and landing on the top of Perfecto Prep's wall. "Sheesh, I hate those props." Plucky said to nobody in particular. He then looked down into the grounds of Perfecto Prep. It was a very long way down into what looked like a garden. It was a drop that a toon cold easily manage, but he wasn't prepared to do so. "This is what I get for not packing a parachute. I need to find some other way…" Plucky was cut short by a crumbling. The wall beneath him gave way all of a sudden, and he fell through the floor he was standing on. He landed in a narrow, low passageway lined with steel, although it was ruined by the large hole in the ceiling now. Plucky had been in enough situations to figure out that he was in the ventilation duct. "And now, with entry to the building gained, the mask of quakko moves through the building, with his mind firmly fixed on the mission at hand…" Plucky narrated as he crawled through the vent, passing a room lined with gold. He couldn't help himself. He looked through the grating that led into the room and whistled before moving on. E then came across another room, this one being full of paintings. Plucky whistles again at the sight before continuing. He tried to continue again, until he passed another room that had a marble statue of a woman. Naturally, he wolf-whistled at the statue, only to get a bit of a surprise.

"Keep your opinions to yourself duck. I'm already taken." The statue suddenly said to Plucky. Plucky moved on very quickly after that.

"I'll just pretend that that never happened." Plucky said to himself before continuing. It wasn't much longer until he came to another room. This time he could hear voices coming from it. His instinct and training told him to sit still, keep hidden and listen to the conversation.

"Ok, so our report is complete, and just before the deadline." One voice said. It sounded like a student, and it certainly wasn't a voice that Plucky could recognise.

"Good work. Now we can present that to claim the prize that we most certainly cannot loose." Another voice said. Again, Plucky couldn't recognise the voice either.

"Yeah, this time we'll beat those Acme Loosers for sure." The first voice said again, pausing for a moment. "Do you want any of us to do something to ensure that we'll win?"

"Not this time. Although I hate to say it, if we try anything and the authorities find out, we'll be disqualified and risk legal trouble. The school is on thin ice as it is and any scams or plots against the Looniversity now could ruin us. This is our biggest chance to stay in the game. Even if we don't win, we will gain something for being entered, but if they find out that we've been in any recent scandals with the contest, we won't get anything."

"But I did hear that one of their researchers kicked the bucket and had to be replaced."

"I don't know where you heard that but I haven't heard anything of the sort. Even if that did happen, I didn't have any involvement with it."

"I didn't think you did anyway. From what I heard, the kid committed suicide in the school gym. Sliced his chest open with a dagger. Messy stuff."

"Hmm…" The pause made gave Plucky enough time to make his retreat. He still stayed in earshot for the moment so he could catch one more bit. "An unfortunate incident, but it does work to out advantage. The looniversity won't be able to do so well with that on their minds. But I stand by what I said before; nobody in Perfecto Prep had any involvement with that to my knowledge." Plucky had gone by then. He had heard enough to realise that Perfecto couldn't do anything against the Looniversity. And it also sounded like that no current member of Perfecto Prep had any involvement with what had happened to Garry. While leaving though, Plucky began to narrate to himself again.

"And so, with his mission completed, the mask of quakko makes his escaped. Undetected by anyone, he slips out the way he came, leaving behind his mark…" No sooner had Plucky said that line when he tripped on something, hitting the floor so hard he left an imprint of is face in the vent, no doubt leaving an imprint of his face on the ceiling somewhere. He had tripped over just below the small cave-in where he had gained entrance to the vent. He looked up at the hole above him. It was an easy jump so he leapt up, grabbed the ledge and pulled himself up, only to slip on a loose stone at the to and fall all the way to the bottom of the wall, on the outside of Perfecto Prep. "YAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Plucky screamed as he fell, accompanied by the classic falling sound effect and the familiar impact sound and puff of smoke when he hit the ground. With a grunt and a groan when he landed, Plucky picked himself up and staggered back to his feet. "Well, at least Shirley can give me a relaxing massage when I get back home." Plucky said to himself when he had picked himself up. He climbed back out of the well wall and took one last look at Perfecto Prep. He didn't learn much of importance, other than that Perfecto Prep weren't doing anything directly, a bit of a first for them, since they rarely played fair in anything. He began to walk, or rather limp, away from the school. Of all of the things he had had to do recently, sneaking into Perfecto Prep had been the most daunting, not to mention the most painful, and to an extent a bit of a pointless trip altogether.


End file.
